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STUDIES  OF  TREE 


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ANNIE  OAKES  HUNTINGTON 


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STUDIES'/  TREES 
IN  WINTER 

A  Description  of  the  Deciduous  Trees  of 
Northeastern  America 

BY 

ANNIE    OAKES    HUNTINGTON 


WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION 

BY  CHARLES   S.  SARGENT,  LL.D. 

DIRECTOR    OF    THE    ARNOLD    ARBORXTUM    AND    AUTHOR    OF    TH1 
"SILVA     OF    NORTH     AMERICA*' 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH   COLORED    PLATES   BY  MARY 

S.   MORSE,    AND    PHOTOGRAPHS    BY 

THE    AUTHOR 


BOSTON 
DANA    ESTES   AND   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  igoi 
BY  KNIGHT  AND  MILLET 

Copyright,  1910 
BY  DANA  ESTES  &  Co. 


TO 

^Hp  Ctoo  JttenBs 

MY    MOTHER,    ELIZABETH    QUINCY    HUNTINGTON 

AND 

JEANNETTE    WARREN    PAYSON 

Iff  TOKEN   OF   GRATITUDE   AND   LOfE 

I    DEDICATE    THIS    BOOK 


CONTENTS 


PACK 

PREFACE xv 

INTRODUCTION xvii 

ANALYTICAL  KEY  TO  THE  FAMILIES  OF  TREES  IN  WINTER      xxi 

CHAPTER 

I.   THE  STUDY  OF  TREES  IN  WINTER     ....         3 
Trunk  and  branches.   Stems  and  twigs.    Leaf-scars. 
Bundle-scars.     Buds. 

II.   THE  HORSECHESTNUT 15 

The  Horsechestnut.     The  Ohio  Buckeye. 


III.  THE  MAPLES 21 

Sugar  or  Rock  Maple.  Red  or  Swamp  Maple. 
White  or  Silver  Maple.  Striped  Maple  or  Moose- 
wood.  Ash-leaved  Maple  or  Box  Elder.  Norway 
Maple.  Sycamore  Maple. 

IV.  THE  ASHES 35 

The  White  or  American  Ash.  Red  or  Downy  Ash. 
Black  Ash.  European  Ash. 

V.   THE  WALNUTS  AND  HICKORIES 45 

Butternut.  Black  Walnut.  Shagbark  or  Shell- 
bark  Hickory.  Mockernut  or  Whiteheart  Hick- 
ory. Bitternut  Hickory.  Pignut  Hickory. 

VI.   THE  BIRCHES,  HOP  HORNBEAM,  AND  HORNBEAM       59 

Canoe,  Paper,  or  White  Birch.  American,  Gray, 
or  White  Birch.  Black  or  Sweet  Birch.  Yel- 
low Birch.  Red  or  River  Birch.  Dwarf  Birch. 
European  White  Birch.  Hop  Hornbeam,  Iron- 
wood.  Hornbeam,  Blue  Beech. 

vii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PACK 

VII.   THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS     ....       77 

American  Beech.  European  Beech.  Chestnut 
Oak.  White  Oak.  Swamp  White  Oak.  Mossy- 
cup,  Overcup,  or  Bur  Oak.  Chestnut  or  Rock 
Chestnut  Oak.  Dwarf  Chestnut  Oak.  Post  or 
Rough  Oak.  Black  Oak.  Red  Oak.  Pin  Oak. 
Scrub  Oak. 

VIII.  THE  ELMS  AND  THE  HACKBERRY   ....  101 

American  or  White  Elm.  Slippery  or  Red  Elm. 
Cork  or  Rock  Elm.  English  Elm.  Scotch, 
Dutch,  or  Wych  Elm.  Hackberry,  Sugarberry, 
Nettle  tree. 

IX.   THE    BUTTONWOOD,    THE    TUPELO,    AND    THE 

MULBERRIES 117 

Buttonwood,  Sycamore,  or  Plane  tree.  Tupelo, 
Pepperidge,  Sour  Gum  tree.  Flowering  Cornel, 
Flowering  Dogwood.  Red  Mulberry.  White 
Mulberry. 

X.   THE    LOCUSTS,   THE   YELLOWWOOD,   AND    THE 

KENTUCKY  COFFEE  TREE 129 

Common  Locust.  Honey  Locust.  Yellowwood. 
Kentucky  Coffee  tree.  Laburnum.  Judas  tree. 

XL   THE    LINDENS,   THE    LIQUIDAMBER,   AND    THE 

SASSAFRAS 141 

Linden,  Basswood.  European  Linden.  Liquid- 
amber,  Sweet  Gum.  Hamamelis.  Sassafras. 

XII.   THE  MAGNOLIA  AND  TULIP  TREE,  THE  CATALPA, 

THE    AlLANTHUS,  AND  THE    ARALIA       .       .       .        153 
Swamp    Magnolia,    Sweet    Bay.      Umbrella  tree. 
Cucumber  tree.      Tulip  tree.      Catalpa.      Ailan- 
thus,  Tree  of  Heaven.     Angelica  tree,  Hercules' 
Club. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGK 

XIII.  THE  APPLE  TREE,  PEAR  TREE,  MOUNTAIN  ASH, 

CHERRY  TREE,  AND  THE  SHAD  BUSH  .  .  167 

Common  Apple  tree.  Common  Pear  tree.  Moun- 
tain Ash,  or  Rowan  tree.  Wild  Black  Cherry. 
Choke  Cherry.  Pin  Cherry.  Peach  tree.  Shad 
Bush.  Service  Berry,  June  Berry. 

XIV.  THE  WILLOWS  AND  POPLARS 177 

White  Willow.  Weeping  Willow.  Black  Willow. 
Aspen,  American  Aspen.  Large-toothed  Aspen. 
Balm  of  Gilead,  Balsam  Poplar.  Cottonwood, 
Necklace,  or  Carolina  Poplar.  Lombardy  Pop- 
lar. White  Poplar. 

XV.   THE  LARCH 187 

American  Larch.  Tamarack  or  Hackmatack. 
European  Larch. 


IX 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PACK 

Swamp  White  Oak.     Quercus  bicolor     .    .    .       Frontispiece 

Cross  section  of  a  tree.     (Colored  plate)      ....  4 

Horsechestnut.     sEscutus  Hippocastanum     ....  14 

Horsechestnut  shoot 16 

Section  of  a  Horsechestnut  bud.     (Colored  plate)     .  18 

The  Maples.      (Colored  plate) 20 

Sugar  Maple.     Acer  saccharum 22 

Trunk  of  a  young  Sugar  Maple 23 

Red  Maple.     Acer  rubrum 24 

Trunk  of  a  young  Red  Maple 25 

Silver  Maple.     Acer  saccharinum 26 

Moosewood  Maple.     Acer pennsylvanicum    ....  28 

Norway  Maple.     Acer platanoides 30 

Sycamore  Maple.    Acer  Pseudo-Platanus     ....  32 

The  Ashes.     (Colored  plate) 34 

American  Ash.     Fraxinus  americana 36 

Walnuts  and  Hickories.     (Colored  plate)      ....  44 

Butternut.     Juglans  cinerea 46 

Trunk  of  a  Butternut 47 

Black  Walnut.      Juglans  nigra 48 

Trunk  of  a  Black  Walnut 49 

Shagbark  Hickory.   Carya  ovata 50 

xi 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACK 

Trunks  of  Shagbark  Hickories 51 

Mockernut  Hickory.     Gary  a  alba 52 

Bitternut  Hickory.     Gary  a  cordiformis 54 

Pignut  Hickory.     Carya  glabra 56 

Canoe  Birch.     Betula  papyrifera 58 

Gray  Birches.     Betula  populifolia 60 

Black  Birch.     Betula  lenta 62 

Yellow  Birch.     Betula  lutea 64 

Red  Birch.     Betula  nigra 66 

European  White  Birch.     Betula  alba 68 

Hop  Hornbeam.      Ostrya  virginiana 70 

Hornbeams.      Carpinus  caroliniana 72 

The  Beech  and  Chestnut.     (Colored  plate)  ....  76 

Beech  trees.     Fagus  grandifolia 78 

Trunk  of  a  young  Beech 80 

Chestnut.     Castanea  dentata 82 

The  Oaks.     (Colored  plate) 83 

White  Oak.     Quercus  alba 84 

Trunk  of  a  White  Oak 86 

Mossy-cup  Oak.     Quercus  macrocarpa 88 

A  young  Post  Oak.     Quercus  stellata 90 

Black  Oak.     Quercus  velutina 92 

Red  Oak.     Quercus  rubra 94 

Trunk  of  a  Red  Oak 96 

Pin  Oak.     Quercus palustris    ........  98 

The  American  and  Slippery  Elms.     (Colored  plate)    .  100 

American  Elm.      Ulmus  americana 102 

Young  Cork  Elm.     Ulmus  racemosa 106 

English  Elms.     Ulmus  campestris 108 

Scotch  Elm.     Ulmus  glabra no 

xii 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Hackberry.     Celtis  occidentals 112 

Buttonwood  stem  and  bud.     (Colored  plate)     .     .     .  116 

Buttonwood.     Platanus  occidentalis 118 

Trunk  of  a  Buttonwood 119 

Tupelo.     Nyssa  sylvatica 120 

Red  Mulberry.     Morus  rubra 122 

White  Mulberry.     Morus  alba 124 

The  Locusts.     (Colored  plate) 128 

Common  Locust  trees.     Robinia  Pseudo-Acacia     .     .  130 

Honey  Locust.      Gkditsia  triacanthos 132 

Kentucky  Coffee  tree.    Gymnocladus  dioica .     .     .     .  134 

Linden,  Liquidamber,  and  Sassafras.     (Colored  plate)  140 

American  Linden.     Tilia  americana 142 

Liquidamber.     Liquidambar  Styraciflua      .     .     .     .  144 

Sassafras.     Sassafras  -variifolium 146 

Trunk  of  a  Sassafras 148 

Magnolia  and  Tulip  tree.     (Colored  plate)  .     .     .     .  152 

Tulip  tree.     Liriodendron  Tulipifera 156 

Catalpa.     Catalpa  speciosa 158 

Ailanthus.     Ailanthus  glandulosa 160 

Hercules'  Club.     Aralia  spinosa 162 

Mountain  Ash.     Pyrus  americana 166 

A  young  Black  Cherry  tree.     Primus  serotina  .     .     .  1 70 

White  Willows.     Salix  alba 176 

Aspens.     Populus  tremuloides 180 

American  Larch.     Larix  larcina 186 

European  Larch.     Larix  decidua 188 


xiii 


PREFACE 

THE  analytical  key  of  trees  in  winter 
which  accompanies  the  new  edition  of 
this  volume  is  based  largely  on  the 
contrasting  characters  of  the  buds,  leaf-scars, 
and  stems,  and  is  intended  for  those  who  come 
in  from  a  walk,  or  from  studying  trees  out  of 
doors,  and  wish  to  identify  the  specimens  they 
have  gathered.  By  following  the  key  step  by 
step,  and  carefully  comparing  the  specimens, 
the  family  is  determined,  and  the  student  re- 
ferred to  the  page  where  the  different  species 
are  described. 

I  have  purposely  included  certain  familiar 
trees  not  indigenous  to  the  Northeastern  States, 
but  ordinarily  met  with,  because  it  seemed  more 
useful  to  help  the  beginner  to  know  each  tree 
with  which  he  comes  in  contact  than  to  make 
a  classification  which  follows  strictly  geograph- 
ical lines. 

I  gratefully  acknowledge  my  thanks  to 
Professor  Sargent  for  his  kind  assistance  in 
compiling  the  key. 

A.  O.  H. 

JAMAICA  PLAIN,  January,  1910. 


xv 


INTRODUCTION 

WHEN  Miss  Huntington  told  me  last 
year  that  she  was  going  to  write  a 
book  about  the  trees  in  their  winter 
aspects,  knowing  how  conscientiously  she  had 
studied  her  subject  and  how  successful  she 
had  been  in  imparting  the  results  of  her  ob- 
servation to  others,  I  felt  sure  that  she  would 
do  a  useful  and  excellent  piece  of  work,  and 
that  her  book  would  be  of  real  assistance  to 
all  persons  who  want  "to  gain  some  knowledge 
of  the  trees  which  they  pass  in  their  daily 
walks. 

The  promise  of  the  book  is  now  fulfilled,  and 
nothing  is  left  for  the  introductor  to  do  but  to 
call  attention  in  a  general  way  to  the  beauty 
of  trees  in  winter  and  to  the  pleasure  and 
profit  of  studying  them  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  as  well  as  when  their  branches  are 
clothed  with  leaves  or  covered  with  flowers 
or  fruits. 

To  the  real  lover  of  trees  they  are  equally 
beautiful  and  interesting  at  all  seasons  of  the 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

year;  and  no  one  knows  trees  well  who  cannot 
distinguish  the  different  species  as  easily  and 
surely  in  winter  as  in  spring  or  summer. 
Almost  every  tree  has  some  special  and  pecu- 
liar beauty  which  is  seen  to  the  best  advantage 
in  winter.  The  fine  spray  of  the  beech  is 
seen  only  at  this  season  of  the  year,  and  there 
are  few  more  beautiful  objects  in  nature  than 
the  delicate  branches  of  our  New  England 
beech  trees  seen  against  the  clear  blue  sky 
of  a  brilliant  winter  day.  The  sturdiness  of 
the  oak  is  best  realized  in  winter,  for  at  other 
seasons  its  massive  limbs  are  often  hidden 
under  their  covering  of  leaves.  The  birch  is 
far  more  graceful  and  attractive  in  winter  than 
at  any  other  period ;  and  "there  is  nothing  more 
stimulating  to  the  lover  of  nature  than  to 
stand  on  a  bright  winter's  day  and  look  up 
into  the  marvellous  structure  of  one  of  the 
great  elm  trees  which  are  the  pride  of  New 
England.  The  bark  of  most  trees  appears 
more  beautiful  in  winter  than  at  other  sea- 
sons of  the  year  because  the  eye,  undisturbed 
by  the  contemplation  of  the  foliage,  can  then 
most  easily  take  in  all  the  details  of  its  varied 
texture  and  wonderful  colors. 

For  the  student  of  trees  searching  for  accu- 
rate   knowledge    it  is   as    important    to   study 


INTRODUCTION 

trees  in  winter  as  in  summer.  The  differences 
in  the  various  families  of  trees,  once  these  are 
understood,  are  marked  enough  to  make  family 
relationships  easy  to  recognize  at  this  season  of 
the  year.  Nor  will  it  be  found  difficult,  once 
the  characters  peculiar  to  each  kind  of  tree  are 
fixed  in  the  mind  of  the  observer,  to  determine 
the  various  species;  and  these  winter  charac- 
ters are  often  more  constant  and  stable  than 
characters  derived  from  the  flowers,  the  shape 
of  the  leaves,  or  from  the  size  and  shape  of  the 
fruits,  on  which  dependence  is  usually  placed 
for  the  identification  of  trees. 

Each  species  of  tree  has  its  peculiar  habit, 
which  is  best  seen  in  winter  and  which  it 
usually  retains  under  normal  conditions.  The 
character  of  the  bark  rarely  changes  much  on 
individuals  of  the  same  age,  although  the  bark 
of  old  trees  is  usually  v£ry  different  from  the 
bark  of  young  trees  of  the  same  species;  and 
the  color  of  the  branchlets  and  the  form  and 
size  of  the  winter  buds  generally  afford  certain 
means  of  determining  closely  related  trees. 

In  each  kind  of  tree  there  is,  in  addition  to 
its  general  habit,  which  with  a  little  practice  is 
frequently  sufficient  to  make  the  recognition  of 
a  particular  species  easy,  some  special  character 
which  enables  the  student  to  confirm  his  deter- 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN    WINTER 

mination  and  to  distinguish  a  particular  species 
of  oak  or  hickory  or  poplar  from  every  other. 

A  knowledge  of  trees,  the  ability  at  least  to 
recognize  and  identify  them,  adds  vastly  to  the 
pleasures  of  life.  One  who  knows  trees  well 
meets  them  like  old  friends ;  each  season  in- 
vests them  with  fresh  charm,  and  the  more  we 
study  and  know  them  the  greater  will  be  our 
admiration  of  the  wonderful  variety  and  beauty 
which  they  display  in  winter. 

C.  S.  SARGENT. 

ARNOLD  ARBORETUM,  November,  1901. 


ANALYTICAL   KEY 

TO  THE  FAMILIES  OF  TREES  IN  WINTER 


1.  LEAF-SCARS  OPPOSITE. 

A.  Buds  large,   gummy ;    scales   overlapping ;  leaf-scars 
prominent.     Horsechestnut.     (^sculus,  p.  15.) 

B.  Buds  small,  not  gummy. 

Twigs  slender. 

Twigs  glaucous ;  bud-scales  delicate.     Maple. 

(Acer,  p.  21.) 
Recent  shoots  pubescent ;   flower-buds  round, 

conspicuous,  their   tips   curved.      Cornel. 

(Cornus,  p.  121.) 
Twigs  stout. 

Twigs  gray,  flattened  at  the  nodes ;  bud-scales 

leathery.     Ash.     (Fraxinus,  p.  35.) 
Twigs   glaucous ;   leaf-scars  often  in  whorls  of 

three.     Catalpa.     (Catalpa,  p.  158.) 

2.  LEAF-SCARS  ALTERNATE. 

A.  Trees  with  thorns  or  prickles. 

a.  Buds  superposed,  hidden  within  the  stem. 
Thorns  long  and  branched  ;   terminal  bud  absent 

Honey  Locust.  (Gleditsia,  p.  132.) 
Prickles  inconspicuous,   in  the  position  of  stipules. 
Common  Locust.     (Robinia,  p.  129.) 

b.  Buds  not  superposed  or  hidden  within  the  stem  ; 

stems  coarse,  covered  with  prickles ;  pith  con- 
spicuous.    Hercules'  Club.    (Ara/ia,  p.  162.) 
xxi 


STUDIES  OF  TREES   IN   WINTER 

2.  LEAF-SCARS  ALTERNATE  (continued). 

B.  Trees  not  armed  with  thorns  or  prickles. 
i.  Buds  naked  (without  scales). 

Lateral  buds  superposed ;  pith  brown,  chambered. 

Walnut.     (Juglans,  p.  45.) 
Buds  curved,  flattened,  orange-colored.     Bitter- 
nut.     (The  only  northern  Hickory  with  naked 
buds.)     (Carya  cordiformis,  p.  53.) 
Buds  acuminate,  light  brown,  enclosed  by  the  de- 
ciduous stipules    of  unfolded   leaves ;    woody 
capsules  persistent  on  the  branches.      Witch 
Hazel.     (Hamamelis,  p.  146.) 
2.  Buds  with  scales. 

a.  Branch  ending  in  a  terminal  bud. 

Buds  covered  by  numerous  scales. 
Twigs  slender. 

Upper  axillary  buds  clustered  at  the  apex 
of  the   twig;    pith   5 -angled.      Oak. 
(Quercus,  p.   83.) 
Upper  axillary  buds  not  clustered. 

Buds  narrow,  acuminate,  about  one  inch 

long.     Beech.     (Fagus,  p.  77.) 
Buds  acute,  chestnut  brown,  slightly 
pubescent,    not  more   than    %    inch 
long.     Shad  Bush.      (Amelanchier, 

P-  i?3-) 

Buds  light  brown ;  recent  shoots  chan- 
neled in  two  grooves.  Chestnut. 
(Castanea,  p.  81.) 

Buds  smooth,  dark  red  ;  stipule-scars 
present.  Linden.  (Tilia,  p.  141.) 


ANALYTICAL   KEY 

2.   LEAF-SCARS  ALTERNATE  (continued). 

Buds  small,  acute,  reddish  brown ;  bundle-scars  on 
leaf-scars  borne  in  a  circle ;  juice  milky.  Mul- 
berry. (Morus,  p.  123.) 

Buds  ovate  ;  twigs  green,  slightly  aromatic ;  pith 
thick,  mucilaginous.  Sassafras.  {Sassafras, 

P-  I47-) 

Buds  obtuse,  dark  red,  their  scales  hairy ;  twigs 
with  red  leaf-scars  and  stout  spur-like  branchlets. 
Tupelo.  (Nyssa,  p.  120.) 

Buds  small,  covered  by  closely  overlapping  scales ; 
twigs  slender,  with  pungent  odor ;  leaf-scars  oval. 
Cherry.  (Prunus,  p.  171.) 

Buds  acute,  orange-brown;   twigs  furnished  with 
corky  wings  ;  pith  pentagonal  in  shape.    Liquid- 
amber.     (Liquidambar,  p.  144.) 
Twigs  stout,  buds  large. 

Buds  with  loosely  appressed  scales ;  leaf-scars 
conspicuous;  stipule-scars  absent.  Hickory, 
except  Carya  cordiformis.  (Carya,  p.  49.) 

Buds  with  closely  appressed  pubescent  scales  ;  leaf- 
scars  V-shaped,  less  conspicuous  ;  stipule-scars 
present.  Mountain  Ash.  (Pyrus,  p.  170.) 

Buds  covered  by  imbricated  scales,  resinous  and 
gummy.  Poplar.  (Populus,  p.  179.) 

Buds  covered  by  a  single  scale  of  two  connate 
stipules. 

Branchlets  slender. 

Lateral  buds  often  larger  than  the  terminal  bud. 
Willow.  (Salix,  p.  177.) 

Buds  compressed,  obtuse;  branches  purplish 
brown.  Tulip  Tree.  (Liriodendron,  p.  155.) 


STUDIES  OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

2.  LEAF-SCARS  ALTERNATE  (continued). 

Branchlets  stout  except  in  Magnolia  mrginiana  ; 

buds  acute.     Magnolia.     (Magnolia,  p.  153.) 

b.  Branch  without   a  terminal  bud,   prolonged   by  the 

growth  of  an  upper  axillary  bud. 
Bud  scales  numerous  (except  in  Ailanthus.} 
Twigs  slender. 

Twigs  with  conspicuous  catkin-buds. 

Buds  slender,  elongated,  sticky.     Birch.    (Be- 

tula,  p.  59.) 
Buds  ovate,   elongated.      Hop    Hornbeam. 

(Os(rya,p.  71.) 
Buds  small,  obtuse.    "Hornbeam.    (Carpinus, 

p.  72.) 
Twigs  without  catkin-buds. 

Buds  ovate,  acute,  dark  brown ;  pith  not  cham- 
bered.    Elm.     (Ulmus,  p.  101.) 
Buds   ovate,    acute  ;    pith   white,    chambered. 

Hackberry.     (Celtis,  p.  112.) 
Buds  obtuse,  chestnut  brown,  superposed ;  flower- 
buds  oval.     Judas  Tree.     (Cerds,  p.  136.) 
Twigs  stout. 

Buds  flattened,  covered  by  two  outer  scales  ;  pith 
chocolate  brown.     Ailanthus.     (Ailanthus, 
p.  160.) 
Bud  scales  only  one;  buds  ovate.     Buttonwood. 

(Platanus,  p.  117.) 
Buds  naked  (without  scales). 

Buds  axillary,  superposed,  four  together,  flat- 
tened by  mutual  pressure  into  an  acuminate 
cone;  branchlets  slender.  Yellowwood. 
(CladrasttS)  p.  134.) 


xxiv 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    STUDY    OF   TREES 
IN   WINTER 


Chapter    I 
THE   STUDY   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

OUTSIDE  my  window  the  trees  in  a 
little  wood  stand  leafless.  Everything 
which  made  this  wood  a  delight  in 
June,  the  contrast  of  light  and  shade  among 
the  leaves,  the  varying  tones  of  green  in  broken 
sunlight,  the  warmth  and  color  and  summer 
freshness,  has  gone,  but  the  trees  themselves, 
in  all  their  wealth  of  foliage  were  never  so 
beautiful  as  now.  The  massive  moulding  of 
their  trunks,  the  graceful  curves  of  their 
branches,  the  fine  tracery  of  their  little  bare 
twigs,  now  clear  against  the  sky  and  again  lost 
in  a  tangled  network  of  intersecting  branches, 
—  the  whole  beauty  of  their  symmetry,  their 
poise,  strength,  and  delicacy  is  revealed  as  it 
is  never  revealed  in  summer. 

Attracted  first  by  the  obvious  grace  of  the 
forms  of  trees  as  we  see  them  from  our  windows 
in  winter,  we  discover  that  a  closer  study  of  the 
details  of  bare  twigs  and  buds  in  the  woods 
discloses  unsuspected  beauty  in  texture,  form, 
3 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 


Trunk  and 
Branches 


and  color.  Each  tree  has  definite  traits  of  its 
own  which  distinguish  it  from  every  other  tree, 
and  by  tracing  individual  characteristics  in  the 
branches,  trunk,  stems,  buds,  and  leaf-scars  we 
are  able  to  identify  every  tree  with  certainty. 

By  observing  the  shapes  and  gen- 
eral outlines  of  trees  in  winter 
we  are  able  to  recognize  them  at 
a  distance.  This  study  of  tree  forms  adds  much 
to  the  pleasure  of  a  railroad  journey  or  a  win- 
ter's drive  in  the 
country,  and  ac- 
curacy is  acquired 
by  constant  prac- 
tice when  we  walk 
in  the  woods  and 
fields  and  can 
verify  the  name 
of  each  tree.  In 
this  way  we  be- 
come familiar 
with  the  common 
trees,  and  learn 
to  know  the  pre- 
dominating trees 
of  the  forests  through  which  we  pass,  often 
recognizing  a  rare  species  the  distance  of  a 
field  away. 


TREE   WITH    A    DELIQUESCENT 
TRUNK 


Cross  section  of  a  tree  trunk,  showing  the  rings  of  annual  growth,  the  medullary 
rays,  the  dark  heartwood,  the  lighter  sapwood  and  the  bark. 


THE    STUDY   OF  TREES   IN  WINTER 


There  are  two  distinct  plans  of  branching  in 
trees.  When  the  main  trunk  extends  upward  to 
the  tip,  as  it  does  in  the 
larch  and  other  coni- 
cal trees,  it  is  said  to 
be  excurrent,  and  when 
the  main  stem  divides 
into  many  more  or 
less  equal  divisions, 
as  we  find  it  in 
the  American 
elm  and  other 
spreading  trees, 
it  is  said  to  be 
deliquescent,  — 
the  latter  form 
is  the  most  com- 


TREE   WITH   AN   EXCURRENT   TRUNK 


mon  one  among 
our  deciduous 
trees. 

The  inner  structure  of  these  dicotyledonous 
trunks  is  seen  when  we  examine  the  cross 
section  cut  of  a  felled  tree.  In  the  centre 
is  the  heartwood,  the  durable  wood  of  com- 
mercial value,  the  cells  of  which  are  hard  and 
dry ;  next  it  the  soft  sapwood,  the  living  part 
of  the  tree  containing  cells  filled  with  sap;  then 
the  cambium  layer,  the  zone  of  growing  cells, 
5 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

and  outside  of  this  the  bark.  Each  year  new 
cells  are  formed  in  the  cambium  layer,  the  inner 
ones  making  new  wood,  the  outer  ones  new 
bark,  and  by  counting  these  annual  rings  of 
growth  the  approximate  age  of  the  tree  is  found. 
In  young  trees  there  is  a  conspicuous  central 
portion  of  pith  which  remains  after  the  tree 
matures,  as  long  as  the  heartwood  is  sound. 
The  lines  radiating  from  the  centre  to  the 
circumference  are  called  medullary  or  pith 
rays  and  form  the  "  silver  grain  "  of  the  wood. 
As  the  size  of  the  trunk  increases,  the  bark  un- 
able to  expand,  cracks  in  fissures  or  peels  in 
layers,  and  is  pushed  off  by  the  tremendous 
growing  power  from  within.  The  heartwood 
is  not  a  living  part  of  the  structure  and  often 
trees  live  for  years  without  it,  —  hollow  shells 
with  a  normal  amount  of  vitality  so  long  as  the 
roots,  the  cambium  layer  and  the  buds  are  not 
injured. 

Branches  grow  from  the  axillary  or  lateral 
buds  on  the  stem,  continuing  their  growth 
every  year  by  the  development  and  unfolding 
of  new  buds,  both  terminal  and  lateral.  When 
the  growth  is  carried  on  by  the  terminal  buds, 
the  tree  is  more  apt  to  be  regular  in  outline  than 
when  these  are  injured  or  killed  and  lateral 
buds  develop  the  growth  instead.  Branches 
6 


THE  STUDY  OF  TREES    IN   WINTER 

vary  in  showing  an  upright,  drooping,  or  hori- 
zontal habit  of  growth,  as  we  see  them  in  the 
Lombardy  poplar,  weeping  willow  and  tupelo, 
and  within  these  divisions  there  are  other  con- 
trasts of  rigidity  and  flexibility,  with  differences 
of  color  and  texture  as  well. 

Apart  from  the  general  shape  of  the  tree,  the 
bark  on  the  trunk  and  branches  is  a  constant 
help  in  identification.  It  is  hard  and  smooth 
on  some  trees,  like  that  of  the  hornbeam  and 
beech,  fissured  into  ridges  like  the  sugar  maple 
on  others,  it  sometimes  flakes  off  in  rough  plates 
like  those  of  the  shagbark  hickory,  and  again  in 
thin,  brittle  strips  like  those  of  the  hop  horn- 
beam, the  bark  peels  off  laterally  as  in  the  canoe 
birch,  and  occasionally  becomes  ridged  and 
corky  as  we  find  it  on  the  branches  of  the 
liquidamber  and  cork  elm.  Very  often  the 
color  of  the  bark  is  distinctive  as  is  that  of 
the  green  stems  of  the  sassafras  and  moose- 
wood  maple  and  the  white,  brown,  pink,  and 
yellow  trunks  of  different  birches.  The  taste 
and  odor  of  the  bark  are  also  characteristic  of 
certain  species,  as,  for  instance,  the  unpleasant, 
bitter  taste  of  the  black  cherry,  the  mucilagi- 
nous taste  of  the  slippery  elm,  and  the  aromatic 
fragrance  of  the  stems  of  the  mockernut  hick- 
ory. The  little  dots  on  young  bark  are  called 
7 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

lenticels,  they  are  openings  for  admitting  air 
to  the  inner  tissues.  Lenticels  are  conspicu- 
ous in  the  bark  of  the  birches. 

The  presence  of  thorns  on  the  trunk  and 
branches  of  certain  trees  helps  us  to  distin- 
guish them  from  others,  and  the  clusters  of 
dry  fruit  which  remain  hanging  on  some  trees 
through  the  winter  are  another  means  of  iden- 
tification. 

Stems  and  Stems  and  twigs  vary  from  the 
Twigs  finest,  lightest  sprays  to  the  most 
coarsely  moulded  ones,  —  from  the  delicate  twigs 
of  the  hop  hornbeam  to  the  stout  shoots  of 
the  horsechestnut ;  —  like  larger  branches  their 
tips  either  ascend,  droop,  or  grow  at  right 
angles  from  the  stem,  and  may  be  smooth, 
downy,  or  rough  to  the  touch. 

The  pith  in  cross  sections  of  twigs  shows 
different  forms  and  is  a  means  in  itself  of  dis- 
tinguishing some  trees.  It  is  usually  circular, 
but  in  some  species  it  takes  the  form  of  a 
pentagon  or  a  star.  In  a  vertical  section  we 
sometimes  find  it  in  horizontal  plates,  like  the 
chambered  pith  of  the  walnuts.  The  color  is 
usually  white,  but  sometimes  we  find  it  pink, 
yellowish,  green,  red,  and  brown. 

It  is  interesting  to  find  that  the  history  of  a 
tree  for  several  years  past  can  be  told  by  study- 
8 


THE  STUDY   OF  TREES    IN  WINTER 

ing  the  scars  along  the  bare  stems.  The  an- 
nual growth  each  year  is  marked  by  a  circle 
of  scars  around  the  stem,  which  was  left  by 
the  scales  of  the  buds  when  they  opened 
in  the  spring,  and  these  scars  mark  each 
season's  growth  for  successive  years  along 
the  stem. 

T      ,  Besides  these  circles  of  scars,  there 

Leaf-scars 

are  scars  on  each  side  ot  the  stem 

which  were  left  by  the  leaves  when  they  fell  in 
the  autumn.  These  leaf-scars  differ  distinctly 
in  various  species  and  may  be  round,  narrow,  tri- 
angular, oval,  heart-shaped,  or  horseshoe-shaped 
according  to  the  species  of  the  tree.  They  are 
either  flat  upon  the  stem  or  on  a  projection,  they 
are  sometimes  concave  and  again  convex.  They 
may  be  opposite  each  other  on  the  stem,  as  those 
of  the  horsechestnut,  maples,  and  ashes,  or  the 
arrangement  may  be  alternate,  as  that  of  hicko- 
ries, walnuts  and  oaks.  The  places  on  the  stem 
where  the  leaf-scars  appear  are  called  nodes,  and 
the  spaces  between  the  nodes  are  called  inter- 
nodes. 

Occasionally  stipule  scars  are  found  on  the 
stems,  —  inconspicuous  scars  left  by  stipules, 
the  leaf-like  bodies  found  at  the  base  of  leaf- 
stalks on  some  trees,  —  and  sometimes  we  find 
the  scars  of  fruit  stalks. 
9 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

Bundle-scars  are  the  scars  of  the 
little  fibres,  the  vascular  bundles 
.which  fastened  the  leaves  to  the  sterns 
in  summer.  They  are  found  on  the 
leaf-scars  and  usually  take  their  shape 
more  or  less.  On  the  large  leaf-scars 
they  can  be  seen  clearly,  but  on  delicate 
twigs  where  the  leaf-scars  are  small  it 
is  well  to  use  a  magnifying  glass. 

In  our  climate  the  buds  of  trees 
Buds  ,  I-, 

are  formed  in  the  summer  dur- 
ing the  season's  growth.  The  bud  at  the  tip 
of  the  stem  is  called  the  terminal  bud,  the 
buds  in  the  axils  of  the  leaf-scars  are  called 
the  axillary  or  lateral  buds.  Buds  contain 
complete  branches  in  miniature  which  de- 
velop in  the  spring  into  a  new  crop  of  twigs. 
By  opening  a  bud  in  winter  the  little  leaves 
can  be  seen  and  often  a  cluster  of  flowers, 
packed  away  from  the  cold  in  marvellous  warm 
wrappings. 

As  a  rule  the  terminal  bud  carries  on  the 
growth  of  the  tree  and  the  lateral  buds  furnish 
the  side  branches.  Flowers  are  found  in  both 
terminal  and  lateral  buds,  but  sometimes  they 
are  enclosed  in  buds  by  themselves  which 
open  before  the  leaves  come  out  in  the  spring, 
like  those  of  the  red  maple  and  American  elm,  — 


THE  STUDY  OF  TREES  IN   WINTER 

these  are  called  flower  buds.  Occasionally 
we  find  two  or  three  lateral  buds  together 
called  accessory  buds,  —  superposed,  if  placed 
one  above  another  as  they  are  in  the  butter- 
nut; collateral,  if  side  by  side  as  in  the  red 
maple.  When  several  buds  are  crowded  to- 
gether one  bud  usually  remains  latent.  Latent 
buds  are  sometimes  caught  in  the  growing 
bark  of  the  tree  and  remain  undeveloped  for 
years,  breaking  out  at  length  perhaps  up  and 
down  the  sides  of  the  trunk  as  we  see  them 
in  "  feathered  elms."  These  abnormal  and 
irregular  buds  are  called  adventitious  buds. 

The  winter  buds  of  trees  may  be  large  or 
small,  they  may  be  slender,  flat,  oval,  pointed 
or  round,  hidden  or  exposed,  they  may  be 
smooth,  downy,  sticky,  or  rough,  covered  with 
scales  or  naked,  and  they  may  differ  in  color 
from  pale  yellow  to  an  inky  black. 

From  the  great  outlines  of  the  trees  against 
the  sky  to  the  little  scales  of  the  buds  on  the 
stems  we  marvel  to  find  here  as  in  all  nature, 
order,  law,  consistency  out  of  infinite  variety. 


CHAPTER   II 
THE    HORSECHESTNUT 


HORSECHESTNUT 

sculus  Hippocastanum 


Page  14 


Chapter   II 
THE   HORSECHESTNUT 

Family  Hippocastanaceae 

THIS  is  a  small  family  consisting  of  one 
well-known   cultivated   species,  —  the 
horsechestnut,  —  and  four  belonging 
to   the   Western   and  Southern   States,  —  the 
various  large  and  small  buckeyes. 

The  horsechestnut  is  so  well  known  and  its 
winter  characteristics  so  clearly  marked  that  I 
have  chosen  it  first  for  description,  although 
no  species  of  the  family  is  found  growing  wild 
in  the  Northeastern  States. 

A   large  tree  with  a  pyramidal 

head'        The    bark    °f    old    trees 
mppocas-  splits  off  in  small  square  pieces, 

.  .        . 

and  in  young  trees  it  is  smooth. 
Very  coarse  twigs  and  large  brown  buds  cov- 
ered with  a  gummy  substance.  Opposite  leaf- 
scars. 

The  horsechestnut  has  little  grace  or  beauty 
of  outline,  in  winter.     Its   branches  are  stiff, 
the  twigs  are  coarse,  ending  bluntly  with  large 
'5 


STUDIES    OF   TREES    IN    WTNTER 

terminal  buds,  and  the  general  shape  too  com- 
pact to  be  pleasing.  The  buds  and  recent 
shoots  are  particularly  interesting  however,  as 
every  scar  is  sharply  defined  and  the  buds  are 
so  large  we  can  see  the  inner  structure  per- 
fectly. In  the  accompanying  illustration  we 
see  a  two-year-old  shoot  with  a  large  terminal 
bud  and  two  lateral  buds  below  the  ring  of 
scars  left  by  the  scales  of  the  terminal  bud  of 
the  year  before.  The  bundle-scars  are  plainly 
seen  on  the  leaf-scars,  and  above  one  of  -the 
leaf-scars  there  is  a  lateral  bud  ready  to  develop 
into  a  lateral  branch  when  it  opens  in  the 
spring.  The  circle  of  scars  at  the  base  of  each 
lateral  shoot  was  left  by  the  scales  of  the 
lateral  bud  of  the  year  before.  There  are  one 
or  two  small  undeveloped  buds  at  the  top  of 
the  leaf-scars  which  would  carry  on  the  growth 
of  the  branch  if  anything  happened  to  injure 
the  vigorous  buds  at  the  tips  of  the  stems. 
The  dots  on  the  bark  are  the  lenticels.  By 
opening  the  bud  with  a  knife  we  find  beneath 
the  sticky  gummy  substance  and  the  numerous 
layers  of  scales  a  complete  branch  in  miniature. 
The  little  leaves  are  carefully  packed  in  downy 
wool  to  keep  out  the  dampness  and  cold,  and 
in  their  turn  they  protect  the  delicate  pink 
spike  of  flowers.  A  German  naturalist  once 
16 


HORSECHESTNUT  SHOOT 


Page  16 


THE   HORSECHESTNUT 

counted  sixty-eight  flowers  on  one  of  these 
undeveloped  spikes  in  the  bud,  and  with  a 
microscope  he  discovered  the  pollen  of  the 
stamens. 

The  horsechestnut  came  originally  from 
Southeastern  Europe  and  was  introduced  into 
gardens  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Its  wood  has  no  commercial  value. 
The  generic  name,  &sculus,  comes  from  esca, 
food,  the  ancient  name  of  an  oak  with  edible 
acorns ;  it  was  probably  given  to  this  tree  on 
account  of  its  large  chestnut-like  fruit.  Hippo- 
castanum,  from  hippos,  a  horse,  castanea,  a 
chestnut,  alludes  to  the  fruit  which  is  made 
into  horse  medicine  in  Turkey. 

The  Ohio  buckeye  (sEsculus  glabra)  is  a 
shrub  or  low  tree  found  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies.  Its  terminal  bud  is  frequently  lacking, 
and  the  two  upper  lateral  buds  grow  large  and 
take  its  place.  Its  buds  and  stems  resemble 
those  of  the  horsechestnut,  but  the  two  species 
would  never  be  confused. 


Enlarged  longitudinal  section  of  the  bud  of  a  horse-chestnut,  showing  two  folded, 
undeveloped  leaves  and  an  undeveloped  spike  of  flowers. 


CHAPTER   III 
THE    MAPLES 


1.     Sugar  Maple.        2.     Silver  Maple.        3.     Red  Maple.        4.     Moosewood. 

5.     Mountain  Maple.         6.     Norway  Maple.         7.     Sycamore. 
8  A  and  B.     Ash-leaved  Maple,  showing  the  varying  color  of  the  stems. 


Chapter    III 
THE     MAPLES 

Family  Aceraceae 

MAPLES  have  long  been  famous  for 
beauty  of  blossom  in  the  early  spring, 
and  richness  of  foliage  in  the  late 
summer  and  autumn ;  but  a  study  of  the  twigs 
and  buds  after  the  leaves  have  fallen,  the  vary- 
ing colors  of  buds  and  stems,  the  delicacy 
of  twigs  and  branches,  and  grace  of  outline 
as  trees  demonstrates  effectively  the  unusual 
beauty  of  the  maples  in  winter. 

The  family  name  Acer  comes  from  the  Latin 
word  for  sharp,  which  was  originally  derived 
from  ac,  a  Celtic  word  meaning  a  point.  The 
name  was  given  to  this  genus  because  the  wood 
was  much  sought  after  in  ancient  times  for  the 
heads  of  pikes  and  lances. 

Among  some  forty  species  of  maple  there  are 
six  native  species,  if  the  ash-leaved  maple  is 
included  in  this  genus.  Two  species  from 
Europe,  the  Norway  and  sycamore  maples,  are 
planted  commonly  throughout  New  England. 

21 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

All  the  maples  have  opposite  leaf-scars. 
Sugar  or  Rock    Tke  &™™l  shape  is  erect,  with 
Maple  smooth,    clean  brandies.     In  old 


Acer  saccharum         ^^     fa     far  away 

long,  shallow  jissures  with  curling  ridges,  giv- 
ing the  trunk  a  ploughed  appearance.  The  buds 
are  narrow,  brown,  and  sharp-pointed.  Deli- 
cate pinkish  leaves  folded  inside  the  bud.  Leaf- 
scars  small  and  opposite;  also  the  twigs  branch 
opposite  each  other. 

Among  the  different  characteristics  of  this 
tree  in  winter,  two  stand  out  conspicuously  as 
unfailing  means  of  identification,  —  the  sharp- 
pointed  brown  buds  and  the  rough  furrowed 
trunk  with  smooth  places  between  the  fissures. 
When  young  it  can  be  distinguished  at  a  dis- 
tance by  its  erect  habit  of  growth  and  general 
shapeliness,  the  main  trunk  often  extending  up 
into  the  tree  unbroken  by  divisions. 

The  sugar  maple  is  typically  American,  and 
is  especially  associated  in  our  minds  with  the 
farming  and  country  life  of  New  England.  It 
is  found  in  all  the  Northeastern  States  growing 
wild  and  extensively  cultivated.  Maple  sugar 
is  made  from  the  sap  of  this  tree  in  the  early 
spring.  A  clear,  bright  day  and  a  westerly 
wind  succeeding  a  frosty  night  are  most  favor- 
able to  the  flow  of  sap,  according  to  Emerson. 


SUGAR   MAPLE 
Acer  saccharum 


Page  22 


TRUNK  OF  A   YOUNG   SUGAR   MAPLE 


Page  22 


THE   MAPLES 

A  hole  is  bored  in  the  trunk  of  the  tree, 
and  the  sap  flows  for  about  three  weeks.  It 
is  collected  daily  in  buckets,  and  then  boiled 
into  syrup.  A  sugar  maple  should  not  be 
tapped  before  it  is  twenty-five  or  thirty  years 
old,  but  after  that  age  it  may  be  tapped  an- 
nually as  long  as  it  lives.  The  wood  of  this 
tree  is  hard  and  smooth,  and  is  much  used  for 
furniture  and  the  interior  finishing  of  houses. 
Occasionally  a  tree  is  found  where  the  fibres 
of  the  wood  are  contorted  irregularly  into 
round  points  called  bird's  eyes.  The  cause  of 
this  peculiar  bird's-eye  maple  is  unknown,  and 
the  theory  that  the  grain  is  diverted  by  the  tap- 
ping of  woodpeckers  for  the  sweet  sap  is  an 
unsatisfactory  explanation,  for  some  trees  are 
thickly  covered,  while  others  do.  not  have  a 
single  spot. 

The    Latin  name,  Acer  saccharum  —  sugar 
maple  —  came  from  the  Arabic,  Soukar. 

Red  or  Swamp  A  low  tree>  with  a  rounded  head, 

Maple  smooth  gray  bark,  reddish  twigs 

Acer  rubrum        aotted  with   brown,  and  small, 

round  red  buds  with  smooth  scales.      When  old 

the  bark  cracks  and  peels  off  in  long,   slender 

flakes.     Small  leaf -scars  opposite  each  other  on  the 

stem.      The  flowers  come  before  the  leaves,  from 

the  round  flower  buds  clustered around  the  stem. 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

Even  in  the  middle  of  winter  the  red  maple 
is  true  to  its  distinctive  characteristic  of  color, 
and  one  marvels  to  find  so  much  red  in  its 
buds  and  twigs.  The  gray  trunks  are  in  fine 
contrast,  and  accentuate  the  color,  and  the 
curving  tips  of  the  branches,  with  their  delicate 
twigs  and  graceful  outlines,  give  the  trees  great 
beauty. 

The  red  maple  is  one  of  the  very  first  trees 
to  bloom  in  the  early  spring,  and  then  its 
color  is  conspicuous,  for,  as  Lowell  says,  it 
"crimsons  to  a  coral  reef."  The  flowers  are 
sweet  scented,  and  the  carrying  of  pollen  is 
done  on  a  wholesale  plan  over  the  tree  by  little, 
inconspicuous  insects,  which  carry  the  pollen 
dust  from  flower  to  flower. 

In  the  autumn  this  tree  is  one  of  the  first  to 
turn,  and  its  brilliant  red  leaves  in  the  low 
swamp  lands,  beginning  often  the  last  of  Au- 
gust or  early  September,  invariably  startle  one 
with  a  swift  premonition  of  winter.  "  How 
early  the  fall  has  come  this  year ! "  some  one 
usually  says,  and  no  one  realizes  it  is  just  the 
habit  of  early  maturity  peculiar  to  that  par- 
ticular red  maple.  It  is  a  tree  closely  associated 
with  Thoreau,  for  we  read  that  he  spent  much 
time  in  extracting  sugar  from  its  sap,  against 
the  wishes  of  his  more  practical-minded  father, 


Page  24 


RED  MAPLE 

Acer  rubrum 


TRUNK  OF   A   YOUNG   RED   MAPLE 


Page  25 


THE    MAPLES 

who  could  not  understand  why  his  son  should 
spend  time  and  money  over  such  an  experi- 
ment, when  he  could  buy  better  and  cheaper 
sugar  at  the  store. 

The  wood,  although  it  is  close-grained  and 
firm,  is  not  so  much  used  as  that  of  the  sugar 
maple,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  decays  when 
exposed  to  alternate  moisture  and  dryness. 
There  are  several  varieties  of  the  wood.  The 
curled  maple,  one  of  the  most  attractive,  has 
wavy  fibres  which  catch  the  light  like  watered 
silk,  and  it  is  much  used  in  cabinet  work.  The 
sap  is  only  half  as  rich  in  sugar  as  that  of  the 
sugar  maple. 

The  Latin  name,  Acer  rubrum,  —  red  maple, 

—  came  from  the  Celtic  word  rub,  signifying  red. 

White   or  Sil-    This  tree  is  found  growing  wild 

ver  Maple       in    wet  places    throughout  New 

Acer  saccharinum          77-        /          /  /      •.  7  .. 

England,  and  tt  is  also  often 
cultivated.  The  trunk  is  low  and  divided  into 
spreading  branches  that  form  a  spacious  head. 
The  branches  sweep  down  and  turn  itp  with 
curving  tips.  Smooth,  red  buds  like  those  of 
the  red  maple.  It  blossoms  before  the  leaves 
are  out,  like  the  red  maple. 

It  is  always  a  delight  to  find  this  tree  grow- 
ing naturally  where  it  has    not  been  planted, 
for,  owing  to  its  habit  of  growing  near  flowing 
2S 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

streams  with  clear,  sandy  bottoms,  one  rarely 
comes  across  it.  It  is  a  tree  to  look  for  on  a 
canoeing  trip,  and  when  one  discovers  its  long, 
drooping  branches  hanging  over  the  stream, 
the  feeling  of  isolation  is  complete;  a  silver 
maple  on  a  river  bank  accentuates  the  sense  of 
being  in  the  country,  just  as  the  notes  of  the 
hermit  thrush  accentuate  the  sense  of  remote- 
ness in  the  woods. 

In  winter  there  are  two  distinct  characteris- 
tics by  which  one  may  distinguish  the  silver 
maple  from  the  red  which  it  closely  resem- 
bles,—  the  curving  tips  of  the  lower  branches 
which  sweep  down  and  curve  up  in  a  pro- 
nounced way  unlike  the  red  maple,  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  bark  peels  off  from  the 
old  trunks,  in  long  pieces  which  are  free 
at  either  end  and  attached  in  the  .middle, 
while  the  bark  of  the  red  maple  splits  up 
and  down  the  trunk  without  shagging  in 
strips. 

The  wood  of  the  silver  maple  is  soft  and 
perishable  and  is  seldom  used. 

The  former  name  of  this  tree  was  Acer 
dasycarpum,  but  it  has  been  changed  to  Acer 
saccharinum,  the  old  name  for  the  sugar  maple, 
—  Acer  sacckarum. 

It  is  found  growing  wild  along  river  banks 
26 


SILVER   MAPLE 

Acer  saccharinuin 


Page  27 


THE    MAPLES 

from    New    Brunswick   to    Florida,  and   it   is 
frequently  planted  in  cities  and  towns. 

A  Smal1  tre^  with  Sm°°tk 


Striped  Maple; 
Moosewood     shoots   and  a   light  green  bark 


Acer  pennsyhanicum    striperf    wjtk     Wkti*.        The 

scars  are  apposite,  and  encircle  the  stem,  and 
are  conspicuously  ridged,  with  two  raised  lines 
above.  Smooth  bud-scales,  silver  white  leaves 
folded  within  the  bud. 

The  moosewood  is  a  beautiful  little  tree  at 
all  times,  but  in  winter  when  its  large  leaves 
have  fallen  and  the  wonderful  coloring  of  its 
trunk  and  stems  is  no  longer  concealed  by 
foliage,  one  can  fully  appreciate  its  color,  deli- 
cate branches  and  smooth  stems.  The  trunk 
is  an  exquisite  shade  of  green,  smooth,  with 
occasional  stripes  of  white,  and  the  stems  and 
buds  are  also  smooth  and  a  rich  rose  in 
color. 

This  tree  is  too  small  for  practical  use,  but 
its  aesthetic  qualities  should  cause  it  to  be 
more  generally  planted  in  our  parks  and 
gardens  than  it  is. 

The  name  moosewood  was  given  to  it  by 
the  country  people  in  Maine,  as  the  moose  in 
the  woods  invariably  strip  it  for  the  sweet 
juice  in  the  tender  young  shoots  in  winter, 
when  there  is  little  for  them  to  eat. 
27 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

The  Latin  name  Acer  pennsylvanicum  — 
Pennsylvanian  maple  —  was  given  to  it  by 
Linnaeus. 

The  moosewood  is  found  throughout  the 
North  Atlantic  States  growing  in  rich  woods 
under  taller  trees. 

Mountain  This  is  a  shrub  about  ei§ht  feet 
Maple  high,  found  commonly  in  the 

Acer  spicatum  mountains  and  hius  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  like  the  moosewood  seldom  found 
growing  out  of  the  forest.  It  is  easily  dis- 
tinguished by  its  gray  bark  and  pink  stems 
covered  with  a  delicate  gray  bloom,  and  the 
clusters  of  dried  fruit  left  hanging  on  the 
stems. 

Acer  spicatum  —  spiked  maple  —  refers  to 
the  spike-like  clusters  of  flowers. 

A    small  or  medium-sized  tree 
Ash-leaved 

Maple  ;  Box     with  yellowish  green  or  reddisli 
Elder  brown   smooth   stems  and  oppo- 

Acer  Neg undo  .  J 

site  V-shaped,  narrow  leaf-scars. 
The  buds  are  gray  and  downy  and  covered  with 
two  pairs  of  scales.. 

This  tree  is  found  wild  in  Vermont  and 
Pennsylvania,  southward  and  westward  in  low- 
land woods,  and  is  more  or  less  cultivated 
throughout  New  England. 

It  is  not  long-lived  and  has  small  practical 
28 


MOOSEWOOD   MAPLE 
Acer  ptnnsylvanicnm 


Page  27 


THE    MAPLES 

value,  as  the  wood  is  not  strong,  and  the  sap 
yields  only  a  small  quantity  of  sugar. 

The    Latin    name,  Negundo,  is  meaningless 
and  its  origin  is  unknown. 

Norway  Maple  ^  ta^  iree^  w**h  a  round  head 
Acer  piatanoides  and  closely  fissured  bark.  The 
buds  are  large,  round,  and  a  dull  reddish  brown 
color.  Coarse  twigs  and  opposite  leaf-scars. 
Distinctive  characteristic  is  the  white  juice 
which  conies  after  cutting  off  a  bud. 

It  is  particularly  interesting  to  open  the  buds 
of  this  tree,  and  to  see  how  carefully  the  leaves 
are  protected.  After  removing  the  outer  scales 
of  the  terminal  bud  with  a  knife,  one  discovers 
a  pair  of  scales  covered  with  soft  brown  hair 
as  thick  as  sealskin  fur  and  the  same  color. 
Within  this  warm  covering  there  are  still 
another  pair  of  inner  scales  with  fur  a  little 
darker  and  thicker  than  that  of  the  first  pair, 
and  within  these  are  the  little  leaves  in  embryo. 
In  some  buds  one  finds  a  tiny  flower  cluster 
instead,  so  small  it  can  scarcely  be  seen,  but 
perfect  in  every  detail,  —  the  most  protected  of 
flowers.  A  discovery  like  this  makes  one  won- 
der if  the  dispensation  of  coverings  is  errati- 
cally bestowed,  for  why  should  we  find  a  rugged, 
stalwart  tree  like  the  Norway  maple  with  its 
buds  luxuriously  protected  from  the  cold,  while 
29 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

a  slender,  delicate  tree  like  our  moosewood 
has  only  a  pair  of  scales  for  a  bud-covering? 
There  must  be  hidden  vitality  in  the  little 
moosewood,  for  in  spring,  when  the  leaves 
come  out,  they  are  as  vigorous  and  beautiful  as 
those  of  the  Norway  maple ;  perhaps,  after  all, 
it  is  just  a  matter  of  nationality;  the  Norway 
maple  came  from  Europe  and  has  kept  the 
traditional  custom  of  wearing  warm  clothing 
in  winter,  and  the  moosewood  has  lived  with- 
out superfluous  raiment,  like  an  Indian  in  the 
woods. 

Sugar  has  been  made  from  the  sap  of  the 
Norway  maple,  but  it  is  produced  in  small 
quantity.  The  wood  is  easily  worked,  and  is 
used  in  Europe  for  various  small  purposes. 

Acer  platanoides  means  platanus-like  maple, 
and  refers  to  an  imaginary  resemblance  to 
the  plane  tree. 

0  A  tall  tree,  with  a  spacious  head. 

Sycamore  ~    . 

Maple  The    bark    breaks    off  tn    thtn 

Acer  Pseudo-piatanus  piates.  Coarser  twigs  than  those 
of  the  other  maples,  leaf -scars  opposite,  and  large 
round  buds.  Distinctive  characteristic  is  its 
green  buds,  which  are  green  all  winter. 

This  is  the  "  sycamore  tree "  of  Europe,  and 
it  is  found  here  commonly  planted  in  gardens 
and  along  roadsides. 

3° 


NORWAY   MAPLE 
Acer  platanoides 


Page  29 


THE   MAPLES 

It  is  distinguished  from  all  other  maples  in 
winter  by  its  unvarying  green  buds,  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  bark  of  old  trees  breaks 
off  in  thin,  small,  square  pieces. 

It  is  a  favorite  Scotch  tree  and  was  much 
planted  about  old  estates  in  Scotland.  Over 
two  hundred  years  ago,  the  powerful  barons  in 
the  West  of  Scotland  used  these  sycamores  for 
hanging  their  enemies  and  refractory  vassals  on, 
and  these  trees  were  called  dool,  or  grief  trees. 
Loudon  tells  the  romantic  histories  of  several 
dool  trees  which  were  still  standing  in  1844. 

The  wood  is  used  in  Europe  for  toys  and 
other  small  articles,  and  experiments  have  been 
made  with  the  sap,  and  sugar  has  been  obtained 
in  small  quantities. 

The  name  Pseudo-Platanus  —  false  plane  — 
was  given  to  it  on  account  of  a  fancied  resem- 
blance to  the  plane  tree. 


Page  3* 


SYCAMORE   MAPLB 

Acer  Pseudo-Platanus 


CHAPTER   IV 
THE    ASHES 


33 


1.     Red  Ash.        2.     White  Ash.         3.     Black  Ash.         4.     European  Ash. 


Chapter  IV 
THE     ASHES 

Family  Oleaceae 

IN  winter  there  is  little  to  attract  us  in  ash 
trees  beyond  a  certain  bold  strength  of 
trunk  and  limb.  There  is  no  grace  or 
delicacy  whatever  in  the  branches,  the  twigs 
are  coarsely  moulded,  and  the  buds  are  thick 
and  leathery.  The  popular  prejudice  existing 
against  ash  trees  in  summer,  when  the  contrast 
of  their  light  foliage  and  heavy  trunks  makes 
it  less  deserved,  is  fully  warranted  in  winter; 
but  if  the  ash  is  ugly,  the  wood  of  few  trees  is 
as  generally  useful,  and  its  literary  history 
dates  back  to  the  "Odyssey"  and  to  the  Eddas 
of  Norse  mythology. 

The  generic  name,  Fraxinus,  comes  from  the 
Greek phraxis  (separation),  and  probably  alludes 
to  the  wood  of  the  European  species  which 
splits  easily.  There  are  about  fifteen  different 
species  in  the  United  States,  three  of  which 
are  found  commonly  in  New  England.  The 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

green  ash,  which  used  to  be  considered  a  dis- 
tinct species,  is  now  thought  to  be  a  variety  of 
the  red  ash. 
All  the  ashes  have  opposite  leaf-scars. 

White  or         ^    ^arSe    tree    m'^    a    straight 
American  Ash     trunk.     Bark  furrowed  with  ir- 

Fraxinu*  americana        ^^  ^^   ^  /^^  jQrm_ 

ing  diamond  shapes  frequently.  Buds  smooth, 
thick  and  hard  like  leather,  and  a  rusty  brown 
color.  Twigs  smooth,  without  down.  Leaf- 
scars  opposite,  and  the  stems  are  flattened  at  the 
nodes.  Cross-shaped  branching  of  the  twigs 
against  the  sky. 

The  white  ash  is  a  tree  which  we  find  fre- 
quently along  roadsides  and  in  the  woods 
everywhere  in  New  England.  The  character- 
istics which  distinguish  it  from  other  trees  in 
winter  are  the  close  diamond-shaped  fissures  of 
the  bark,  the  rusty  brown  buds,  and  often  the 
old  clusters  of  paddle-shaped  fruit  hanging  on 
the  tree.  On  some  ash  trees  black,  berry-like 
excrescences  are  found  hanging  in  dry  clusters 
on  the  ends  of  the  branches.  These  are  not 
clusters  of  fruit,  as  might  at  first  be  supposed, 
but  the  diseased  and  undeveloped  remains  of 
the  panicles  of  staminate  flowers  which  have 
been  injured  by  mites, — curious  freaks  resem- 
bling oak-apples  and  the  outgrowths  of  other 


AMERICAN  ASH 
Fraxinus  amerfcana 


Page  36 


THE   ASHES 

insect  poisoned  plants.  Occasionally  these 
berry-like  clusters  have  been  gathered  as  seeds, 
by  mistake,  instead  of  the  true  fruit,  a  mistake 
which  does  not  seem  remarkable  when  the  fruit- 
like  appearance  of  the  clusters  is  considered. 

The  wood  of  the  white  ash  is  heavy,  tough, 
and  strong,  and  is  much  used  for  agricultural 
implements,  tool  handles  and  oars,  for  the  in- 
terior finish  of  houses  and  in  the  construction 
of  carriages.  Emerson  tells  of  an  ash  which 
was  felled  in  Granville  many  years  ago,  the 
wood  of  which  furnished  three  thousand  rake 
stalks.  The  tree  from  which  I  took  the  fol- 
lowing photograph,  stands  on  a  farm  in  Sterling, 
Massachusetts,  and  measures  over  fourteen  feet 
in  circumference,  five  feet  from  the  ground. 
This  trunk  illustrates  the  massive  strength 
which  gives  the  ash  its  one  aesthetic  quality. 

This   tree   resembles   the   white 
Red  or  Downy  7      ,    ,    .       ,.  ,.         •  ,     ,    r 

Asll  ash,   but  is  distinguished  from 

Fraxtnus  pennsyl-        it   by   the   down   on   the   recent 
shoots.     It  is  a  smaller  tree  than 
the  white   ash,   more   spreading  in   shape.     The 
twigs    are    less    coarse    and    branch    more    fre- 
quently,   with    less    space    between    the    buds, — 
shorter  internodes, — on   shoots   of  the   same   age. 
Buds    inconspicuous,    smaller    and    blacker    than 
those     of     the     white     ash.     Bark     closely     fur- 
37 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

rowed,    like   that    of   the    white   ash.    Leaf-scars 
opposite. 

The  red  ash  is  much  less  coarsely  moulded 
than  the  white  ash,  and  in  its  leafless  season, 
particularly,  the  contrast  between  its  branches 
and  those  of  the  white  ash  is  plainly  seen. 
The  fissures  in  the  bark  of  the  red  ash  seem  a 
little  finer  and  nearer  together  than  those  of 
the  white  ash  bark  on  trees  of  the  same  age. 
The  soft  down  on  the  recent  shoots  remains 
through  the  winter;  and  this,  with  the  finer 
twigs,  which  branch  more  frequently,  and  the 
smaller,  darker  buds,  makes  the  tree  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  the  white  ash  in  winter, — 
more  easily  even  than  in  summer. 

The  staminate  flowers  of  the  red  ash  are 
afflicted  by  mites  in  the  same  way  as  those  of 
the  white  ash,  producing  unsightly  clusters 
which  hang  on  the  tree  all  winter. 

The  wood  is  much  less  valuable  than  that  of 
the  white  ash. 

Black  Ash        A    slender   tree,    40   to    70   feet 

Fraxinus  nigra      .  fogfa     Trunk  dark  gray,  often 

disfigured    with    knobs.     The    buds    are    black, 

and   the   young   shoots   greenish.     Coarse   twigs; 

opposite  leaf -scars. 

The    black    ash    is    distinguished    from    the 
white  and  red  ashes  by  its  darker  buds  and  by 
38 


THE   ASHES 

having  a  less  pinched,  flattened  appearance  at 
•the  nodes  on  the  stem.  It  grows  throughout 
New  England  in  swamps,  in  wet  woods,  and 
in  moist,  muddy  ground  near  rivers.  In  the 
woods  its  trunk  is  found  frequently  without 
branches  to  a  great  height,  and  Emerson  calls 
it  the  most  slender  deciduous  tree  to  be  found 
in  the  forest.  It  is  sometimes  seventy  or  eighty 
feet  high,  with  a  trunk  scarcely  a  foot  in 
diameter. 

The  wood  of  the  black  ash  is  heavy  but  not 
strong.  It  is  used  for  fences,  for  the  interior 
finish  of  houses,  and,  after  being  separated  into 
thin  strips,  it  is  used  in  making  baskets  and 
the  bottoms  of  chairs.  Its  sap  was  an  old 
remedy  for  earache,  obtained  by  holding  a 
green  branch  before  the  fire. 

The  specific  name,  nigra,  refers  to  the  color 
of  the  buds. 

European  Ash     A  large  tree,  witk  a  hjty,  spread- . 

Fnurfmu  excelsior         jng  ^ead  and  short,   thick  trunk. 

The  bark  is  ash-colored  when  old,  and  dark  gray 
when  young.  Very  black  buds  distinguish  it 
from  the  American  species.  Opposite  leaj- 
scars. 

The  European  ash  is  planted  frequently  along 
roadsides  and  in  our  parks  and  gardens.     It  is 
indigenous  to  Northern,   Central,   and  Southern 
39 


STUDIES    OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

Europe.  Its  jet  black  buds  distinguish  it  from 
other  ash  trees.  In  the  chapter  called  "A  Visit 
to  an  old  Bachelor,"  in  Mrs.  Gaskell's  "Cran- 
ford,"  Mary  Smith  tells  us  how  she  was  talk- 
ing to  Mr.  Holbrook  in  the  fields,  and  how  he 
quoted  poetry  to  himself  and  enjoyed  the  trees 
and  clouds  and  glimpses  of  distant  pastures, 
and  how  he  suddenly  turned  sharp  round  and 
asked,  "Now,  what  color  are  ash  buds  in 
March?" 

"Is  the  man  going  mad?  thought  I.  He  is 
very  like  Don  Quixote.  'What  color  are  they, 
I  say?'  repeated  he  vehemently.  'I  am  sure  I 
don't  know,  sir,'  said  I,  with  the  meekness  of 
ignorance.  'I  knew  you  didn't.  No  more  did 
I — an  old  fool  that  I  am! — till  this  young 
man  comes  and  tells  me.  Black  as  ash  buds 
in  March.  And  I've  lived  all  my  life  in  the 
country;  more  shame  for  me  not  to  know. 
Black:  they  are  jet  black,  madam." 

The  "young  man"  he  refers  to  is  Tennyson, 
and  the  quotation,  "Black  as  ash  buds  in  the 
front  of  March,"  is  a  simile  used  in  "The 
Gardener's  Daughter,"  and  it  shows  how  acute 
Tennyson's  powers  of  observation  were,  and 
how  true  his  descriptions  of  nature. 

The  buds  of  the  ash  open  later  in  the  spring 
than  those  of  other  trees,  and  the  leaves  unfold 
40 


THE   ASHES 

very  slowly.  Tennyson  also  noted  this  char- 
acteristic: — 

"  Why  lingereth  she  to  clothe  her  heart  with  love, 
Delaying  as  the  tender  ash  delays 
To  clothe  herself,  when  all  the  woods  are  green  ? " 

The  rare  fitness  of  this  simile  might  pass  un- 
heeded if  we  did  not  study  trees  first  and  poetry 
afterwards. 

In  Europe  ash  seeds  were  used  for  medicine. 
They  were  called  lingua  avis  by  the  old  apothe- 
caries, on  account  of  a  fancied  resemblance  to 
the  tongues  of  birds;  young  ash  seeds  were 
also  pickled  and  used  in  salads.  Evelyn  says 
the  wood  "is  of  all  others  the  sweetest  of 
our  forest  fuelling,  and  the  fittest  for  ladies' 
chambers." 

The  horsechestnuts,  the  maples,  and  the 
ashes  are  the  three  genera  of  large  trees  which 
have  opposite  leaf-scars. 


41 


CHAPTER   V 
THE  WALNUTS  AND   HICKORIES 


43 


1.     Butternut.         2.     Black  Walnut.         3.     Pignut  Hickory.         4.     Mockernut 
Hickory.         5.     Shagbark  Hickory.         6.     Bitternut  Hickory. 


Chapter    V 
THE   WALNUTS   AND    HICKORIES 

Family    Juglandaceae 

FEW    trees    are    more    lofty    and   majestic 
than    certain    species    of    walnuts    and 
hickories.       They    are    stately    in    sum- 
mer, but  in  winter,  when  the  foliage  has  gone 
and  every  branch  and  twig  is  thrown  in  black 
relief    against    the    sky,    their    beauty    is    truly 
imposing. 

Both  walnuts  and  hickories  are  valuable 
timber  trees,  and  the  nuts  of  several  species 
are  sweet  and  edible. 

Two  genera  of  this  family  are  found  in 
America,  — Juglans  and  Carya.  Of  the  first 
genus  there  are  two  species  native  in  the  North- 
eastern States, — the  butternut  and  the  black 
walnut. 

Butternut         ^  ^(nvi  spreading  tree,  branching 
juglam  cmerea        a  short  way  up  the  trunk.     Gray 
bark,  slightly  fissured,  the  clefts  not  running  to- 
gether.    Recent  shoots  downy,   with  a  fringe  of 
45 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

hair  over  the  leaf-scar.  Leaj-scars  conspicuous, 
alternate,  the  bundle-scars  horseshoe  (U)  shaped. 
Light  brown  buds  destitute  of  scales.  Terminal 
bud  encloses  pistillate  flowers,  which  are  fertil- 
ized by  the  staminate  -flowers  enclosed  in  the 
pineapple-like  bud  over  the  leaf-scars.  These 
staminate  flowers  hang  in  one  long  catkin,  which 
drops  off  after  shedding  the  pollen  in  spring. 
The  superposed  buds  (two  or  three  over  the  leaf- 
scars)  contain  the  side  branches.  Pith  light 
brown  and  chambered, — by  cutting  a  twig 
lengthwise  this  can  be  seen, — a  characteristic 
of  the  Juglans  family. 

Among  all  the  native  trees,  the  butternut  is 
perhaps  the  most  interesting  for  winter  study. 
The  naked  buds,  the  irregular  leaf-scars,  with 
horseshoe  bundle-scars,  the  superposed  buds 
containing  the  lateral  branches  and  the  queerly 
marked  buds  of  the  staminate  flowers,  the 
chambered  pith,  and  the  little  fringes  of  down 
on  the  stems,  every  structural  detail  of  this  tree 
is  interesting  and  unusual.  The  butternut  is 
one  of  the  few  trees  among  the  Juglandacece 
which  is  not  tall  and  beautiful  in  outline.  It 
is  a  low  tree,  with  wide-spreading,  rather  strag- 
gling branches,  frequently  ill  shapen  and  un- 
couth in  appearance.  It  is  usually  associated 
in  our  minds  with  country  lanes,  and  growing 
46 


BUTTERNUT 
Juglans  cinerea 


Page  46 


TRUNK   OF  A  BUTTERNUT 


Page  47 


THE   WALNUTS  AND    HICKORIES 

by  the  walls  and  fences  bordering  open  pastures 
and  farm  lands,  and  in  these  surroundings  it 
seems  pleasing  and  appropriate;  but  when  we 
find  it  planted  in  parks  and  cultivated  grounds 
it  seems  commonplace  and  insignificant.  It  is 
found  in  all  the  New  England  States,  in  New 
York,  and  in  Pennsylvania.  Very  large  speci- 
mens grow  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
River. 

The  wood  of  the  butternut  is  light  brown 
in  color,  it  is  light,  soft,  and  easily  worked, 
and  is  much  used  for  furniture,  gunstocks, 
and  for  the  interior  finish  of  houses.  The 
inner  bark  is  used  medicinally,  and  a  dye  is 
made  from  the  bark  and  nutshells.  An  ex- 
cellent pickle  is  made  from  the  young  nuts, 
and  the  kernels  are  sweet  and  edible,  although 
rather  rich  and  oily.  Professor  Gray  tried  the 
experiment  of  making  sugar  from  the  sap  of  the 
butternut.  He  found  that  it  took  four  trees  to 
yield  nine  quarts  of  sap  (one  and  a  quarter 
pounds  of  sugar),  the  amount  that  one  sugar 
maple  yields. 

The  generic  name,  Juglans,  comes  from 
Jovis  glans,  the  nut  of  Jove,  in  reference  to 
the  excellence  of  the  fruit,  and  the  specific 
name,  cinerea  (ash-colored),  probably  alludes  to 
the  color  of  the  bark. 

47 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

Black  Walnut  A  large  tree,  50  to  120  feet  high, 
juglamnigra  with  spreading  branches  and 
rough  bark,  darker  in  color  than  that  of  the 
butternut.  The  buds  are  gray  instead  of  light 
brown  like  those  of  the  butternut,  and  they  are 
shorter.  The  twigs  are  smooth  in  winter,  with- 
out hair,  and  the  pith  is  chambered.  Alternate, 
conspicuous  leaf-scars.  Characteristic  difference 
between  the  two  trees  is  that  the  fringe  of  hair 
over  the  leaf-scar  in  the  butternut  is  absent  in 
the  black  walnut. 

The  black  walnut  is  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
butternut.  It  is  tall  and  erect,  with  a  broad, 
spacious  head  and  vigorous,  wide-spreading 
branches.  The  bark  is  much  darker  and 
rougher  than  that  of  the  butternut,  and  the 
buds  are  smaller,  and  gray  rather  than  yellow- 
ish in  color,  like  those  of  the  other  species. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  strong,  and  durable,  and 
dark  brown  in  color.  It  takes  polish  well  and 
is  much  used  in  cabinet  making,  boat-building, 
interior  house  finishing,  and  for  gunstocks  and 
coffins.  A  valuable  wood  in  many  ways,  but 
the  passing  of  the  fashion  for  black  walnut 
furniture  is  not  to  be  regretted.  It  has  been 
cut  most  recklessly  in  our  forests  during  the 
last  twenty-five  years,  and  already  it  has  been 
almost  exterminated  in  the  Mississippi  Basin. 


BLACK  WALNUT 
Juglans  nigra 


Page  48 


TRUNK  OF  A   BLACK  WALNUT 


Page  49 


THE   WALNUTS   AND    HICKORIES 

Individual  trees  are  now  sold  where  there  used 
to  be  whole  tracts  of  black  walnut  forests.  In 
Tennessee  last  year,  dealers  were  buying  stumps 
of  old  walnut  trees  which  had  been  left  when 
the  trees  were  first  cut,  in  the  early  days  of 
the  lumber  trade.  Each  stump  brought  more 
money  than  the  whole  tree  originally  sold  for. 

Its  fruit  is  edible,  and  an  oil  is  made  from  its 
kernels.  A  kind  of  bread  has  also  been  made 
from  the  kernels  of  these  nuts,  and  the  husks  are 
used  as  a  dye. 

The  black  walnut  is  found  growing  wild  in 
the  Northeastern  States,  but  it  is  more  common 
west  than  east  of  the  Alleghanies. 

The  English  walnut,  Juglans  regia,  originally 
came  from  Persia,  and  is.  sometimes  cultivated 
here.  An  interesting  cross  between  the  Eng- 
lish walnut  and  our  native  butternut  is  found 
on  the  north  side  of  Houghton's  Pond  in  the 
Blue  Hills,  Massachusetts.  Only  a  few  of  these 
hybrids  are  known  to  exist,  and  all  of  them  are 
said  to  grow  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 

A  tall,  stately  tree.  70  to  no  feet 
Shagbark  ;  or       .  .        '          .  ,   ,     '   ' 
Shellbark          nigh;  unmistakable  on  account 

Hickory          of  its  rough,  flaking  bark,  which 

Caryaovata 


lowish  brown  buds,   with  two  outer  dark  scales, 
which  also  shag  characteristically.      Coarse  twigs; 
4  49 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

alternate  leaf-scars.  The  husk  of  the  nut  splits 
and  breaks  off. 

This  is  a  tree  peculiar  to  Northeastern 
America,  and  one  of  the  most  rugged,  mag- 
nificent specimens  to  be  found  anywhere  in 
the  same  temperate  climate.  It  is  especially 
adapted  for  broad  treatment  in  landscape  gar- 
dening, and  should  be  planted  where  there  is 
plenty  of  room  for  its  full  development,  and 
where  one  can  admire  its  lofty  proportions  and 
symmetry.  It  is  one  among  many  trees,  which 
is  seen  at  its  best  in  winter  unhampered  by 
foliage,  and  then  its  naked  boughs  are  so  inky 
black,  that  it  seems  as  if  it  were  etched  against 
the  sky.  These  very  dark  colored  branches 
are  characteristic  of  the  hickories,  and  help  one 
to  distinguish  the  trees  at  a  distance.  The 
rough  bark  shagging  off  in  curving  plates,  and 
the  buds  with  the  same  shagging,  curving  outer 
scales  are  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the 
shagbark  in  winter. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  hard,  tough,  and  close- 
grained,  and  it  is  used  for  agricultural  imple- 
ments, axe  handles,  wagon  stock,  walking 
sticks,  and  baskets.  In  tensile  strength  and 
in  the  weight  of  compression,  a  block  of 
hickory  is  as  strong  as  wrought  iron  of  the 
same  length  and  weight.  No  other  American 
5° 


SHAG  BARK  HICKORY 

Carya  ovata 


TRUNKS  OF   SHAGBARK   HICKORIES 


Page  51 


THE   WALNUTS   AND    HICKORIES 

wood  burns  with  such  brilliancy  or  gives  out  so 
much  heat  as  the  shagbark.  The  fruit  of  this 
tree  is  edible  and  sweet,  and  the  nuts  have 
greater  commercial  value  than  those  of  any 
other  hickory. 

The  former  name,  hicoria,  was  of  Indian  ori- 
gin and  came  from  powcohicora,  the  name  of 
an  oily  emulsion  made  from  the  pounded  ker- 
nels of  mockernuts  by  the  Virginian  Algonkins. 
Ovata  (egg-shaped)  refers  to  the  shape  of  the 
leaves. 

The  shagbark  is  found  from  Southern  Maine 
to  Florida  and  westward  to  Central  Kansas. 
The  forests  of  Indiana,  once  the  centre  of  the 
hickory  trade,  are  now  exhausted.  The  hick- 
ories are  confined  to  Eastern  North  America 
alone,  and  are  a  genus  of  rare  and  very  valu- 
able trees. 

A  tall  tree  60  to  100  let 


Mockernut;  or 
Whiteheart       with  a  lofty  head.     Bark  smooth, 
Hickory          with    close,    wavy    furrows, — a 

Gary  a  alba  J      ' 

distinctive  characteristic  of  the 
tree.    Large,  hard,  round  buds,  without  the  dark 
outer  scales  peculiar  to   the   shagbark,    but  with 
downy,    yellowish    brown    scales.    Coarse    twigs; 
alternate    leaf-scars.     Nut    somewhat    hexagonal, 
with  a  very  thick  shell,  and  a  hard,  thick  husk. 
The  mockernut  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
Si 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

ing  of  the  hickories  in  winter.  Its  bark  has  a 
peculiar  wavy  appearance,  entirely  unlike  any 
other  member  of  the  family.  The  hollows  are 
close  together  in  sinuous,  shallow  furrows,  and 
the  bark  is  so  smooth  over  these  fissures  that 
it  looks  as  if  the  ridges  were  trying  to  grow 
over  and  close  up  the  hollows, — the  effect  is 
that  of  a  thin,  silk  veil  drawn  over  the  trunk. 
The  twigs  are  large  and  heavily  moulded,  with 
large  oval  buds,  but  they  produce  a  pleasing 
effect  of  strength,  instead  of  seeming  ugly  and 
coarse,  like  those  of  the  horsechestnut.  The 
curves  and  irregularities  the  stem  takes  in 
growing,  and  the  general  alternate  plan  of 
branching  save  the  mockernut  from  being  rigid 
and  upright  like  the  horsechestnut. 

The  mockernut  is  easily  distinguished  from 
every  other  hickory  by  its  peculiar  bark,  its 
smooth,  large  buds,  and  coarse  stems. 

Its  wood  is  used  for  the  same  purposes  as 
that  of  the  shagbark  and  is  equally  valuable. 
Its  nut  is  large  and  sweet,  and  if  the  tree  were 
put  under  cultivation,  it  would  probably  equal 
that  of  the  shagbark  in  commercial  value.  As 
it  is  now,  however,  the  shell  is  too  thick,  hard, 
and  difficult  to  crack,  and  the  kernel  too  small 
in  proportion  to  the  shell  to  make  it  market- 
able. The  experiment  of  cultivating  the  mock- 
52 


MOCKERNUT   HICKORY 

Carya  alba 


Page  52 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

scarcely  a  lapse  of  time  when  they  fail  to 
distinguish  the  tree.  The  bitternut  is  the  most 
graceful  of  all  the  hickories.  It  has  a  smooth, 
tapering  trunk  and  delicate  twigs.  , 

Its  wood  is  heavy,  hard,  tough,  and  close- 
grained,  and  is  used  for  the  yokes  of  oxen  for 
hoops  and  fuel.  The  nuts  are  so  bitter  that 
squirrels  refuse  them  as  food. 

The  former  name,  minima  (the  smallest),  re- 
ferred to  the  branches  and  foliage  of  the  tree, 
which  are  more  delicate  than  those  of  other 
hickories.  The  range  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  shagbark  and  mockernut. 

Pignut  Hickory  A  lar&e  tree,  7°  to  80  feet  high 
Gary a  giabra  with  a  tapering  trunk  and  smooth 
gray  bark,  which  does  not  shag.  The  buds  are 
yellowish  brown,  and  smaller  than  those  of 
other  hickories,  with  no  black  outer  scales  like 
those  of  the  shagbark,  and  smaller  than  the 
mockernut  buds.  The  buds  are  either  round,  or 
egg-shaped.  Delicate  twigs;  alternate  leaf-scars. 
The  nut  has  a  thick  shell  and  poor  kernel;  the 
husk  does  not  split  all  the  way  down  as  it  does 
with  the  shagbark. 

If  it  were  possible  for  trees  to  have  negative 
characters  the  pignut  would  be  eminently  neg- 
ative. In  fact  its  distinguishing  characteristic 
is  that  it  has  no  one  distinctive  feature  to  iden- 
54 


Page  54 


BITTERNUT   HICKORY 

Cafya  cordiformis 


THE   WALNUTS   AND    HICKORIES 

tify  it  in  winter,  as  all  the  other  hickories  have. 
Its  bark  is  not  wavy  like  the  mockernut,  and  it 
does  not  shag  like  the  shagbark;  its  buds  are 
not  yellow  like  the  bitternut,  nor  large  like  the 
mockernut,  nor  has  it  black  outer  scales  like 
the  shagbark;  its  nuts  are  neither  bitter  nor 
sweet, — and  yet  these  very  negative  qualities 
are  a  sure  means  of  identification.  One  knows 
the  pignut  in  much  the  same  way  that  David 
Harum  knew  he  had  bought  a  horse,  "  the  only 
thing  to  determine  that  fact  was  that  it  wa'n't 
nothin'  else."  All  praise,  however,  to  the  out- 
line of  the  pignut  against  a  winter  sky.  The 
tracery  of  its  twigs  and  branches  is  delicate  and 
graceful,  and  it  looks  as  if  it  were  drawn  with 
the  blackest  India  ink.  Michaux  calls  the  pig- 
nut one  of  the  largest  trees  in  the  United 
States,  and  it  certainly  compares  well  with  the 
three  other  native  hickories  in  its  general  bear- 
ing, for  it  is  as  stately  and  beautiful  in  outline 
as  they,  in  spite  of  its  negative  characteristics 
in  details. 

The  wood  is  like  that  of  other  hickories  and 
it  is  used  for  the  same  purposes.  The  nuts 
vary  much  in  shape  and  size.  Some  of  them 
are  oval,  others  broader  than  they  are  long, 
others  perfectly  round,  and  the  sizes  vary  as 
much  as  the  shapes.  The  nuts  are  not  market- 
55 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

able,  although  they  are  not  unpleasant  to  the 
taste  and  afford  squirrels  a  supply  of  food  for 
winter. 

The  specific  name,  glabra  (smooth),  refers  to 
the  shoots  and  leaves,  which  are  smoother  than 
those  of  other  hickories. 

The  range  of  the  pignut  is  the  same  as  that 
of  other  members  of  the  genus;  it  is  found 
throughout  New  England  and  in  the  West  and 
South. 


PIGNUT   HICKORY 
Carya  glabra 


1'iK"   S- 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  BIRCHES,    HOP    HORNBEAM, 
AND    HORNBEAM 


57 


CANOE   BIRCH 
Setula  papyrifera 


Page  61 


Chapter    VI 


THE    BIRCHES,    HOP    HORNBEAM,  AND 
HORNBEAM 


Family   Betulacece 

THE  birches  are  a  family  of  exceedingly 
graceful  and  attractive  trees,  and  charm 
us  quite  as  much  in  winter  by  the 
color  of  their  stems  and  the  delicacy  of  their 
twigs,  as  they  do  in  summer  by  the  fresh  green 
of  their  foliage.  Like  other  trees,  birches  vary 
in  appearance  according  to  the  place  where 
they  grow.  If  they  are  shaded  by  other  trees 
in  the  woods  their  trunks  are  tapering  and  tall 
and  free  from  branches,  but  when  they  grow  in 
open  fields  and  the  lateral  branches  develop, 
their  general  outline  is  bushy  and  far  less 
attractive;  unlike  other  trees,  birches  are  im- 
proved by  not  having  full  development. 

The  birch  has  been  known  from  the  earliest 
ages,  and  it  is  found  in  Europe,  Asia,  and 
North  America. 

There  are  distinguishing  characteristics  in 
the  details  of  buds  and  stems,  but  the  color 
59 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

and  texture  of  the  bark  on  the  trunk  and 
branches  of  the  different  species  are  the  most 
obvious  and  certain  means  of  identification  in 
winter. 

There  are  in  all  six  native  species  in  New 
England,  and  one  from  Europe  which  is  planted 
in  our  parks  and  gardens. 

Canoe,  Paper      A  lar?e\  8racelul  tree>  6o  to  75 

or  White         jeet  high,  with  wonderfully  white 

Birch  bark  splitting  into  thin,   tough 

layers.    Branches  thicker,  buds 

larger,  catkins  larger  than  those  of  other  birches, 

and  the  upper  part  of  the  twigs  is  hairy.     The 

buds   are   sticky   and   greener  inside   than   those 

oj    other    birches, — less    silvery    and    soft.     The 

leaf-scars  are  alternate. 

In  winter,  as  at  every  other  season  of  the 
year,  few  trees  surpass  the  canoe  birch  for 
beauty  and  delicacy.  No  other  tree  has  a  bark 
so  shiningly  white,  and  even  the  snow  is  unable 
to  dim  its  purity.  We  usually  think  of  this 
tree  as  being  fragile  and  delicate,  especially 
when  we  recall  it  as  it  grows  along  the  edge 
of  woodlands  where  the  shade  of  other  trees 
has  forced  it  to  grow  slender  and  tall  in  reach- 
ing for  the  light.  The  canoe  birch  is  really  a 
large  tree,  however,  and  often  grows  to  an 
enormous  size  among  the  northern  hills  where 
60 


GRAY   BIRCHES 
Betula  populifolia 


Page  6a 


THE    BIRCHES   AND    HORNBEAMS 

it  seems  to  thrive  best.  The  feminine  charac- 
teristics associated  with  this  tree  in  our  minds 
— "Most  beautiful  of  forest  trees,  the  Lady  of 
the  Woods,"  etc. — receive  a  curious  shock 
when  we  come  suddenly  upon  a  huge  old  birch 
growing  in  a  clearing  in  the  woods,  for  all  the 
world  like  a  middle  aged  and  corpulent  ma- 
tron among  the  younger  trees. 

The  wood  of  the  canoe  birch  is  light,  but 
it  is  hard  and  strong.  It  is  used  for  making 
shoe  lasts  and  shoe  pegs,  spools,  wood  pulp, 
and  for  fuel.  The  Indians  use  it  for  making 
sledges,  paddles,  the  frames  of  snowshoes,  and 
the  handles  of  hatchets.  They  also  use  the 
bark  for  making  canoes,  wigwams,  and  baskets, 
and  they  make  a  drink  from  the  sap  of  the 
tree. 

The  generic  name,  Betula,  probably  comes 
from  the  Celtic  name  for  the  birch,  betu,  or  it 
may  possibly  have  come  from  the  Latin  batuere, 
in  reference  to  the  birch  rods  with  which  the 
Roman  lictors  drove  back  the  crowds  of  people. 
The  specific  name,  papyri/era,  refers  to  the 
paper -like  bark  which  peels  off  in  thin  lateral 
strips. 

This  birch  is  found  in  the  mountains  of  New 
England   and   generally   throughout   the   North- 
ern and  Northwestern  States. 
61 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

.  A  small,  slender  tree,  15  to  30  feet 

Gray  or  White    high,   with  an  erect  trunk.     It 

Birch  prows  in  poor  soil  and  is  found 

Betula  populifolia  .  .          .  , 

growing  commonly  along  sandy 
roadsides.  Several  shoots  spring  from  the  trunk 
near  the  ground.  Bark  close  fitting,  with  a 
chalky  white  surface.  Black  triangular  spaces 
below  each  branch.  The  ends  of  the  twigs 
are  very  rough  to  the  touch.  Alternate  leaf- 
scars. 

This  little  birch  is  perhaps  the  least  interest- 
ing member  of  a  most  attractive  family.  It  is 
found  commonly  growing  along  the  sandy 
banks  of  country  roads  and  in  waste,  barren 
places  where  pitch  pines  and  blueberry  bushes 
and  scrub  oaks  are  found.  It  is  invariably 
associated  with  sterility  in  our  minds,  and 
seems  to  demand  nothing  of  the  soil  on  which 
it  grows,  adapting  itself  immediately  to  its  sur- 
roundings, and  thriving  where  other  trees 
would  die. 

Although  the  bark  is  white  and  might  be 
confounded  with  that  of  the  canoe  birch  at  first 
sight,  the  trees  can  easily  be  told  apart.  The 
gray  birch  has  a  close-fitting  bark  which  is 
dirty  white  in  color,  with  triangular  black 
blotches  under  the  branches,  it  is  exceedingly 
chalky  to  the  touch  and  never  peels  off  as  it 
62 


BLACK   BIRCH 
Bftula   lenta 


Page  63 


THE    BIRCHES   AND    HORNBEAMS 

grows  old,  while  the  bark  of  the  canoe  birch 
peels  off  in  thin  lateral  strips,  is  clear  white  in 
color,  and  seldom  shows  any  dark  blotches  on 
the  trunk.  The  bark  of  the  recent  shoots  of 
the  gray  birch  is  rough  to  the  touch,  and  that 
of  the  canoe  birch  is  smooth  and  sticky  where 
the  buds  join  the  stem. 

Its  wood  is  soft,  light,  and  neither  strong  nor 
durable.  It  is  used  for  wood  pulp,  shoe  pegs, 
spools,  barrels,  and  for  fuel. 

The  specific  name,  populi  folia  (poplar-leaved), 
refers  to  the  leaves  which  quiver  in  the  wind 
and  show  light  under  surfaces  like  the  aspens. 
The  gray  birch  is  found  throughout  the  North- 
eastern States. 

Black  or  Sweet  ^   to^>   round-headed  tree.     The 
Birch  branches  twist  in  different  direc- 

Betula  lenta 


ful.  The  young  shoots  are  brown,  dotted  with 
white,  and  smooth.  The  bark  is  smooth,  dark 
brown,  and  resembles  that  of  the  garden  cherry. 
The  buds  are  conical  and  pointed.  The  twigs 
have  an  aromatic  taste.  Alternate  leaf-scars. 

Few  trees  deserve  greater  appreciation  than 
the  black  birch  and  few  receive  as  little  from 
people  in  general.  It  is  always  beautiful,  but 
in  winter  when  the  smooth  golden  brown  stems 
are  bare  and  the  sun  strikes  it  squarely,  it 
63 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

glows  to  the  tip  of  the  smallest  branch  with  a 
wealth  of  radiant,  living  color. 

The  black  birch  is  easily  distinguished  by 
the  dark  color  of  its  bark,  which  is  smooth  on 
young  trees  and  cracks  into  rough  square 
plates  on  old  trees,  but  which  never  peels  off 
in  strips.  Its  gray  stems  have  a  sweet,  spicy 
taste,  which  is  also  a  means  of  identifying  the 
tree. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  strong,  and  hard,  and  its 
surface  after  being  polished  is  like  satin.  It 
is  much  sought  after  for  furniture  and  is  ex- 
cellent for  fuel.  An  oil  made  from  the  wood 
is  used  medicinally  and  as  a  flavoring  extract, 
and  a  sweet  beer  is  made  by  fermenting  the 
sugary  sap. 

The  specific  name,  lenta  (pliant),  refers  to 
the  flexible  stems  and  branches  of  this  tree. 
The  black  birch  is  found  in  rich  woods  through- 
out the  Northeastern  States. 

Yellow  Birch  A  beautiful  straight  tree,  50  to 
Betulalutea  gO  jee£  high.  Distinguished 
jrom  the  Hack  birch  by  its  yellowish  or  silver- 
gray  bark,  which,  unlike  the  brown  bark  of 
the  black  birch  rolls  back  and  peels  off  in  thin, 
filmy  strips  from  the  trunk.  The  bud  scales 
overlap  each  other.  Alternate  leaf -scars.  Deli- 
cate twigs  with  an  aromatic  taste,  not  as  sweet 
64 


Page  65 


YELLOW   BIRCH 
Sftula   lutea 


THE    BIRCHES   AND    HORNBEAMS 

as  the  black  birch.     The  catkins  are  larger  round 
than  those  of  the  black  birch. 

This  is  in  every  way  a  worthy  sister  tree  of 
the  black  birch,  and  the  rich  yellow  of  the 
trunk,  but  partially  revealed  through  the  gray, 
shaggy,  outer  layers  of  the  bark,  is  quite  as 
beautiful  as  the  rich  red-browns  of  the  black 
birch  bark.  Thoreau  felt  the  charm  of  yel- 
low birches.  In  his  journal,  Jan.  4,  1853, 
he  says:  "To  what  I  will  call  Yellow  Birch 
Swamp,  E.  Hubbard's  in  the  north  part  of  the 
town,  .  .  .  west  of  the  Hunts'  pasture.  There 
are  more  of  these  trees  in  it  than  anywhere  else 
in  the  town  that  I  know.  How  pleasing  to 
stand  near  a  new  or  rare  tree;  and  few  are  so 
handsome  as  this:  singularly  allied  to  the  black 
birch  in  its  sweet  checkerberry  scent  and  its 
form,  and  to  the  canoe  birch  in  its  peeling  or 
fringed  and  tasselled  bark.  The  top  is  brush- 
like,  as  in  the  black  birch.  The  bark  an  ex- 
quisite .  .  .  delicate  gold  color,  curled  off  partly 
from  the  trunk  with  vertical  clear  or  smooth 
spaces,  as  if  a  plane  had  been  passed  up  the 
tree.  The  sight  of  these  trees  affects  me  more 
than  California  gold.  I  measured  one  five  and 
two-twelfths  feet  in  circumference  at  six  feet  from 
the  ground.  We  have  the  silver  and  the  golden 
birch.  This  is  like  a  fair  flaxen-haired  sister  of 
65 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

the  dark  complexioned  black  birch,  with  golden 
ringlets.  How  lustily  it  takes  hold  of  the 
swampy  soil  and  braces  itself.  In  the  twilight 
I  went  through  the  swamps,  and  the  yellow 
birches  sent  forth  a  yellow  gleam  which  each 
time  made  my  heart  beat  faster.  Sometimes  I 
was  in  doubt  about  a  birch  whose  vest  was  but- 
toned, smooth  and  dark,  till  I  came  nearer  and 
saw  the  yellow  gleaming  through,  or  where  a 
button  was  off." 

The  yellow  birch  is  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able timber  trees  of  the  North.  The  wood 
is  heavy,  hard,  and  strong,  and  is  used  for 
making  furniture,  the  hubs  of  wheels,  and 
boxes.  Few  hard  woods  of  a  light  color  make 
as  attractive  flooring  as  polished  yellow 
birch. 

The  specific  name,  lutea  (yellow),  refers  to 
the  color  of  the  wood  and  bark  of  the  trunk. 
The  yellow  birch  is  found  throughout  the 
Northeastern  States. 

-.   ,      _,.          A   medium-sized   tree   found   on 
Kea  or  Kiver  ' 

Birch  the  edges  of  streams.   Long,  grace- 

Betula  nigra  ^  sweeping  upper  limbs,  with 
small,  pendulous  lower  branches.  The  bark 
is  reddish,  very  shaggy  and  loose,  -flaking  oft 
and  rolling  back  in  thin  strips.  Alternate  leaf- 
scars.  Twigs  reddish  brown  and  pliant. 
66 


Page  67 


THE    BIRCHES   AND    HORNBEAMS 

The  red  birch  is  easily  distinguished  from  all 
the  other  birches  by  its  reddish,  loosely  peeling 
bark,  which  gives  the  trunk  an  unkempt, 
shaggy,  and  torn  appearance.  The  outer  bark 
separates  into  flakes  which  are  loose  at  one 
end  and  adhere  to  the  trunk  at  the  other, 
and  these  projecting  strips  look  like  a  fringe. 
The  lower  branches  often  bend  down  towards 
the  ground  in  a  straggling,  irregular  fashion, 
while  the  upper  branches  are  free  and  sweep- 
ing. It  should  not  be  inferred  from  this  de- 
scription that  the  red  birch  is  lacking  in  beauty, 
for  it  is  a  most  attractive  tree.  Its  general  out- 
line is  picturesque,  and  the  soft  red  color  of  the 
peeling  epidermis  of  the  bark  in  the  upper 
branches  has  a  very  pleasing  effect.  The  red 
birch  is  the  only  semi-aquatic  species  among 
the  birches,  and  its  drooping  branches  hanging 
over  the  water  add  much  to  the  beauty  of  our 
streams  and  rivers. 

Its  wood  is  light  but  strong,  and  is  used  for 
furniture,  wooden  ware,  and  yokes. 

The  specific  name,  nigra  (black),  was  given 
it  by  Linnaeus,  the  celebrated  Swedish  botanist, 
— it  seems  to  have  no  particular  significance. 

The  red  birch  is  found  growing  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nashua  and  Merrimac  Rivers  and  beside 
smaller  streams  in  Massachusetts,  but  it  grows 
67 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

more  frequently  along  river  banks  in  the  South 
than  in  the  North. 

A  small  shrub  (Betula  pumila),  the  dwarf 
birch,  found  in  rocky  pastures  in  Western 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  in  the  South 
and  West,  completes  the  list  of  our  six  native 
birches. 

Euro  can        ^   *ree  ^rom  ^ur°Pe->  extensively 

White  Birch     cultivated  in  this  country.    White, 

Betula  alba         ^^  £ar£     Lm^  slender,  down 

sweeping       branches.    Small       buds.    Alternate 
leaf-scars.      ; 

The  slender,  drooping  branches  of  the  Euro- 
pean white  birch  are  so  long  and  pliant  that 
the  slightest  breeze  sets  them  swaying  in  one 
direction  from  the  trunk,  like  a  shower  of  rain 
driven  by  the  wind.  The  birch  does  not  lose 
its  pendulous  grace  in  mere  limp  dejection,  like 
most  of  the  weeping  varieties  of  trees  that  gar- 
deners love  to  propagate,  but  it  holds  its  head 
high  and  the  slender  branches  droop  down, — 
a  striking  contrast  to  the  weeping  willow  and 
other  lachrymose  specimens  of  horticultural 
art. 

There   have   been    constant    allusions   to   this 
tree    in    English    literature.     Perhaps    the    most 
descriptive   is  one  of  Sir  Walter   Scott's  which 
refers  to  the  slender,  pendulous  boughs, — 
68 


EUROPEAN   WHITE   BIRCH 
Betula   alba 


Page  69 


THE    BIRCHES   AND    HORNBEAMS 

"  Where  weeps  the  birch  with  silver  bark 
And  long  dishevelled  hair." 

From  an  artistic  point  of  view  much  has  been 
said  about  these  trees.  In  the  " Sylvan  Year," 
Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton  calls  the  stem  of  the 
birch  "one  of  the  masterpieces  of  Nature." 
" Everything, "  he  says,  "has  been  done  to 
heighten  its  unrivalled  brilliance.  The  hori- 
zontal peeling  of  the  bark,  making  dark  rings 
at  irregular  distances,  the  brown  spots,  the  dark 
color  of  the  small  twigs,  the  rough  texture  near 
the  ground,  and  the  exquisite  silky  smoothness 
of  the  tight  white  bands  above,  offer  exactly 
that  variety  of  contrast  which  makes  us  feel 
a  rare  quality  like  that  smooth  whiteness  as 
strongly  as  we  are  capable  of  feeling  it.  And 
amongst  the  common  effects  to  be  seen  in  all 
northern  countries,  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
is  the  opposition  of  birch  trunks  in  sunshine 
against  the  deep  blue  or  purple  of  a  mountain 
distance  in  shadow." 

Miss  Jekyll,  in  "Wood  and  Garden,"  says 
that  the  tints  of  the  stem  give  a  precious  lesson 
in  color.  "The  white  of  the  bark,"  she  says, 
"is  here  silvery  white  and  there  milk  white, 
and  sometimes  shows  the  faintest  tinge  of  rosy 
flush.  Where  the  bark  has  not  yet  peeled  off, 
the  stem  is  clouded  and  banded  with  delicate 
69 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

gray  and  with  the  silver-green  of  lichen.  For 
about  two  feet  upward  from  the  ground,  in  the 
case  of  young  trees  of  about  seven  to  nine  inches 
in  diameter,  the  bark  is  dark  in  color,  and  lies  in 
thick  and  extremely  rugged  and  upright  ridges, 
contrasting  strongly  with  the  smooth  white  skin 
above.  Where  the  two  join,  the  smooth  bark 
is  parted  in  upright  slashes,  through  which  the 
dark  rough  bark  seems  to  swell  up,  reminding 
one  forcibly  of  some  of  the  old  fifteenth-century 
German  costumes,  where  a  dark  velvet  is  ar- 
ranged to  rise  in  crumpled  folds  through  slash- 
ings in  white  satin.  " 

The  wood  is  used  in  Europe  for  fuel  and  for 
making  furniture.  It  is  rather  curious  to  find 
that  the  birch  has  been  celebrated  as  an  instru- 
ment of  chastisement  since  early  Roman  times. 
Gerard  says  that  in  his  time  "schoolmasters  and 
parents  do  terrify  their  children  with  rods  made 
of  birch";  and  Shenstone,  in  the  "Schoolmis- 
tress," has  a  pathetic  little  account  of  the  fears 
of  small  boys  as  they  watched  the  wind  waving 
the  branches  of  a  birch  tree  growing  by  the 
schoolhouse, — 


"  For  not  a- wind  might  curl  the  leaves  that  blew, 
But  their  limbs  shuddered,  and  their  pulse  beat  low  ; 
And,  as  they  looked,  they  found  their  terror  grew, 
And  shaped  it  into  rods  and  tingled  at  the  view." 

70 


HOP  HORNBEAM 
Ostrya  -virginiana 


Page  71 


THE    BIRCHES   AND    HORNBEAMS 

The  European  birch  is  found  throughout  the 
North  of  Europe,  and  grows  in  every  kind  of 
soil,  both  wet  and  dry, — the  Earl  of  Hadding- 
ton  called  it,  with  quaint  humor,  "an  amphibious 
plant,"  and  after  two  hundred  years  this  is  still 
descriptive  of  its  habits. 

It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  spe- 
cific name,  alba,  alludes  to  the  color  of  the  bark. 

A  small,  slender  tree,  30  to  50 

beam     Iron-       feet  high-     The  bark  is  light,  and 
wood  scales  off  in  thin  flakes,  and  is  sel- 

Ostrya  virginiana  ,  7  f 

dom  more  man  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  thick.  Small,  acute  buds;  alternate  leaf- 
scars;  delicate  twigs.  Small  catkins,  usually 
three  together,  pointing  upwards.  Hop-like  fruit, 
often  remaining  on  the  tree  through  the  winter. 

There  is  but  one  native  hop  hornbeam  in 
New  England,  and  it  is  an  extremely  interest- 
ing little  tree.  It  grows  under  other  trees  in 
the  forest,  and  is  easily  overlooked,  usually 
being  mistaken  for  a  young  elm.  Of  all  trees 
the  hop  hornbeam  is  the  most  retiring  in  its 
habits,  and  takes  much  the  same  place  among 
trees  that  the  hare  does  among  animals,  or  the 
violet  among  flowers,  living  a  secluded  life  in 
wild  places,  where  the  woods  partially  conceal 
its  identity. 

Its  outline  against  the  sky  in  winter  is  most 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

delicate  and  pretty,  the  twigs  are  very  slender, 
and  are  tipped  with  the  three  little  pointing 
fingers  of  the  catkins,  and  the  whole  tree  pro- 
duces a  most  pleasing  effect.  Although  the 
hop  hornbeam  frequents  the  woods,  it  never 
makes  even  a  small  area  its  own.  It  is  always 
found  mixed  with  other  trees,  and  I  have  never 
seen  even  a  little  grove  of  hop  hornbeam  trees 
growing  alone. 

The  wood  is  very  strong,  hard,  heavy,  tough, 
and  durable,  and  is  used  for  fence  posts,  the 
handles  of  tools,  and  small  articles. 

The  generic  name,  Ostrya,  comes  from  the 
Greek  ostryos  (a  scale),  in  reference  to  the 
scaly  catkins  of  the  fruit.  Virginiana  is  the 
specific  name  for  the  North  American  hop 
hornbeam  as  distinguished  from  the  European 
species,  which  it  closely  resembles. 

The  hop  hornbeam  is  found  in  rich  woods 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  Northern  Florida,  and 
westward  to  Eastern  Kansas. 

Hornbeam;        A    tree   °r  tatt  shmb    IO  to   25 
Blue  Beech        feet    high.     Bark    smooth    and 

Carpinu,  carolinlana 


and  close-fitting.  The  buds  are  oval.  Delicate 
twigs,  in  flat,  spreading  layers.  Alternate 
leaf-scars.  Fruit  in  clusters,  —  leaf-like  bracts, 
holding  little  nuts. 

72 


HORNBEAMS 

Carpinus  caroliniana 


Page  73 


THE    BIRCHES   AND    HORNBEAMS 

The  "hornbeam,  like  the  hop  hornbeam,  is  a 
small  tree  and  is  found  growing  under  larger 
trees  in  the  woods.  It  is  readily  distinguished 
from  the  hop  hornbeam  by  its  smooth,  dark 
bark,  the  hornlike  appearance  of  which  instantly 
suggests  its  name.  There  is  but  one  native 
species  in  New  England,  and  it  is  much  smaller 
than  its  sister  tree  from  Europe  of  the  same 
name.  The  European  hornbeam  has  long 
been  used  for  making  hedges,  and  in  Germany 
the  hornbeams  are  planted  in  such  a  manner 
that  every  two  plants  intersect  each  other  in 
the  form  of  a  St.  Andrew's  cross.  At  the 
point  where  the  two  plants  cross  each  other  the 
bark  is  scraped  off  and  the  hornbeams  are  bound 
together  closely  with  straw.  The  two  plants 
grow  together  in  a  knot  and  send  out  horizontal 
shoots  in  a  few  years,  making  an  impenetrable 
hedge.  The  hornbeam  was  much  used  in  form- 
al gardens  for  labyrinths,  arcades,  and  groves, 
and  as  hedges  for  geometric  designs  known  as 
"the  star"  and  "the  goose-foot." 

The  wood,  like  that  of  the  hop  hornbeam,  is 
hard,  heavy,  strong,  and  close-grained.  It  is 
used  for  small  articles  like  the  handles  of  tools. 

The  generic  name,  Carpinus,  comes  from  the 
Celtic  car  (wood),  pinda  (head),  meaning  that 
the  wood  was  used  for  making  the  yokes  of 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

cattle.  The  specific  name,  carolinianb,  was 
used  to  distinguish  the  American  from  the 
European  species. 

The  hornbeam  is  found  growing  on  the 
banks  of  streams  and  in  moist  woods  through- 
out New  England,  and  in  the  South  and  West. 


74 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    BEECH,    CHESTNUT     AND 
OAKS 


The  Chestnut  and  the  Beech. 


Chapter   VII 
THE   BEECH,   CHESTNUT,  AND    OAKS 

Family    Fagacese 

ALTHOUGH    the    beech,    chestnut,    and 
oaks    are    divided    into    three    separate 
genera,    they   all   belong   to   the    family 
FagacecB.     It  is  an  interesting  family  in  winter 
and    deserves    careful    study,    particularly    the 
oaks,    which    have    always    been    more    or    less 
confusing  at  first  sight. 

There  is  one  native  beech  and  one  native 
chestnut,  and  there  are  eleven  oaks  in  the 
Northeastern  States. 

Amer'  ^  oeau^Iu^  spreading  tree  60  to 

Beech  100  feet  high,  with  a  clean,  close- 

Fagus grandifoiia  fitting,  smooth,  gray  bark.  Buds 
narrow  and  sharp-pointed,  with  many  over- 
lapping scales.  Twigs  smooth,  slender,  and  red- 
dish brown,  with  alternate  leaf-scars.  Fruit, 
a  prickly  burr  inclosing  two  triangular,  sharp- 
ridged  nuts,  the  burr  hanging  cm  the  trees  well 
into  the  winter. 

77 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

The  beech  is  not  so  graceful  as  the  elm,  nor 
so  lofty  as  the  pine,  nor  so  stalwart  as  the  oak, 
but  there  is  not  a  tree  in  the  woods  so  distinctly 
lovable.  In  every  detail  the  beech  has  a  dainty, 
lady-like  beauty,  and  among  the  leafless  trees 
of  the  winter  woods  it  is  as  fair  as  a  flower,  with 
its  clean  gray  bole,  its  polished  brown  stems, 
and  its  slender,  pointed,  lance-like  buds.  There 
is  no  other  tree  with  which  the  beech  may  be 
confused,  and  its  characteristics  are  so  pro- 
nounced and  unvarying  that  there  is  little  diffi- 
culty in  recognizing  it  immediately  in  passing. 
When  it  has  grown  up  partly  shaded  by  other 
trees  it  has  a  lofty  bearing,  but  when  it  has  de- 
veloped in  open  ground  it  is  round-headed  and 
spreading  in  shape.  The  beech  trees  from 
which  the  following  photograph  was  taken  were 
once  shaded  by  other  trees,  and  show  this  in  the 
height  they  have  attained  and  the  absence  of 
spreading,  lateral  branches. 

The  wood  is  hard,  strong,  and  very  close- 
grained  and  is  used  for  making  chairs,  shoe 
lasts,  the  handles  of  tools,  and  for  fuel.  In  old 
trees  where  the  heartwood  predominates  the 
wood  is  red,  and  in  younger  trees  where  the 
sapwood  is  more  conspicuous  the  wood  is 
white,  and  these  differences  in  color  gave  rise 
to  the  popular  belief  among  woodcutters  that 
78 


BEECH   TREES 
Fagus  grandifolia 


Page  78 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

there  are  two  species  of  beech.  Michaux  ac- 
cepted this  theory,  which  has  since  become  ob- 
solete. The  nuts  are  sweet  and  edible,  and  are 
sold  in  Canada  and  some  of  the  Western  and 
Middle  States. 

The  generic  name,  Fagus,  comes  from  the 
Greek  phago  (to  eat),  in  allusion  to  the  nuts, 
which  have  always  been  used  as  food. 

The  beech  is  found  from  Nova  Scotia  to 
Florida  and  west  to  Texas. 

European         A    lar$e    tree    m'^    spreading 
Beech  branches  and  a  smooth,    gray 

Fagus  syioatica  trunk.  Buds  narrow  and  sharp- 
pointed.  Twigs  slender,  smooth,  and  reddish 
brown  in  color,  with  alternate  leaf-scars. 

Although  the  beech  stands  alone  in  having 
no  other  tree  like  it,  yet  it  is  extremely  difficult 
to  tell  the  American  beech  from  the  European 
species  which  is  planted  commonly  in  our  parks 
and  gardens.  The  bark  of  the  European  beech 
is  a  darker  gray  in  color,  its  buds  are  grayer 
than  those  of  the  American,  and  the  inner  scales 
of  the  bud  have  a  tendency  towards  being  more 
hairy  along  their  edges;  for  the  rest  we  must 
trust  to  our  intuition  in  telling  the  trees  apart, 
unless  we  are  in  the  woods  and  know  that  there 
the  only  indigenous  beech  is  the  American. 
From  the  time  of  Virgil  the  praises  of  the 
79 


STUDIES   OF   TREES  IN   WINTER 

beech  have  been  sung  in  both  poetry  and  prose. 
Passienus  Crispus,  the  orator,  who  married  the 
Empress  Agrippina,  was  so  fond  of  it  that 
"he  not  only  delighted  to  repose  beneath 
its  shade,  but  he  frequently  poured  wine  on 
its  roots,  and  used  often  to  embrace  it." 
Evelyn  and  Cook  recommended  it,  Boutcher 
thought  that  it  "hardly  had  an  equal,"  Mathews 
called  it  "the  Hercules  and  Adonis"  of  the 
sylva  of  Great  Britain,  and  among  the  English 
poets  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Leigh  Hunt, 
Gray,  Campbell,  and  Wordsworth  all  loved  and 
admired  it  for  its  rare  beauty  and  vigor.  Gil- 
pin,  however,  does  not  join  this  chorus  of  praise; 
in  his  "Remarks  on  Forest  Scenery"  he  calls 
it  "an  overgrown  bush,"  and  explains  at  some 
length  his  reasons  for  thinking  that  it  lacks 
picturesque  beauty. 

In  Europe  the  wood  has  been  used  for  more 
purposes  than  in  America,  and  it  also  ranks 
high  as  fuel.  In  France  oil  is  made  from 
beechnuts,  used  in  lamps  and  for  cooking. 
The  specific  name,  sylvatica,  is  from  the  Latin 
which  means  belonging  to  the  woods. 

The   purple   beech   is  a  variety  of  this  tree, 

which   has   been   propagated   from   the   original 

sport  found  in  a  German  forest  over  a  hundred 

years  ago.     Plants  from  the  seeds  of  the  purple 

80 


TRUNK   OK  A  YOUNG   BEECH 


Page  So 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

beech  have  a  tendency  to  revert  to  the  original 
green,  and  to  insure  its  peculiar  colored  foliage 
gardeners  perpetuate  it  by  layers.  It  is  a 
highly  artificial  tree,  and  unless  it  is- carefully 
placed  in  appropriate  surroundings  its  effect  is 
far  from  pleasing. 

Chestnut          One  of  the  largest  of  our  forest 

Casianea  dentata  trees.  The  bark  is  dark,  hard, 
and  rugged,  with  coarse  ridges  on  old  trees. 
Light  brown  buds.  Alternate  leaf-scars.  Re- 
cent shoots  are  coarse  and  channelled  with  two 
grooves  running  down  from  the  base  of  each  leaf- 
scar,  closely  set  with  white  or  gray  dots.  Fruit 
ripe  in  October. 

At  all  times  a  giant  among  trees,  the  chest- 
nut seems  perhaps  most  remarkable  in  winter 
when  the  massive  trunk  and  lofty  branches  can 
be  fully  appreciated.  There  is  much  beauty 
in  the  bark  of  this  tree,  the  fissures  sweep 
boldly  up  and  down  the  trunk  with  broad, 
smooth  spaces  between  the  furrows  and  give  a 
most  pleasing  impression. 

It  is  interesting  to  find  that  the  chestnut 
is  one  of  the  exceptions  in  nature  to  the  rule 
that  every  tree  has  an  unvarying  mathematical 
arrangement  of  leaves  on  the  stem.  This 
regular  distribution  of  leaves  on  the  stem  to 
economize  space  and  light  is  called  phyllotaxy, 
«  81 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

and  different  trees  follow  various  systematic 
arrangements.  When  the  leaves  or  leaf-scars 
are  alternate  on  the  stem,  as  they  are  in  those 
of  the  chestnut,  the  arrangement  is  spiral  and 
one  leaf  follows  another  up  the  stem  in  ranks 
of  two,  three,  five  or  more  in  definite  order 
according  to  the  kind  of  tree.  In  the  chestnut, 
however,  the  phyllotaxy  is  frequently  variable 
in  different  twigs  of  the  same  tree,  and  it  follows 
an  unruly,  wayward  leaf  arrangement. 

The  wood  of  the  chestnut  is  light,  soft,  and 
not  strong,  but  it  is  used  for  making  cheap 
furniture.  It  is  also  made  into  rails,  posts,  and 
railroad  ties,  as  it  is  durable  when  used  in 
contact  with  the  soil.  The  nuts  are  sweet  and 
edible  and  have  great  market  value.  The 
trees  bear  fruit  when  they  are  very  young,  and 
some  Western  farmers  find  that  orchards  of 
these  trees  bring  better  returns  than  the  same 
amount  of  land  in  farm  products. 

The  chestnut  is  closely  allied  to  the  sweet 
or  Spanish  chestnut  of  Europe.  The  nuts  of 
the  American  species  are  sweeter  than  those  of 
the  Spanish  chestnut,  but  they  are  much  smaller. 
From  a  French  experiment  it  was  found  that 
the  kernel  of  the  chestnut  yields  sixteen  per 
cent  of  good  sugar. 

The  generic  name  was  taken  from  Castanea, 
82 


Page  8a 


CHESTNUT 
Castanea   dentata 


1       Red  Oak.         2.     Scarlet  Oak.         3.     Black  Oak.         4.     Pin  Oak. 

5.     Swamp  White  Oak.        6.     White  Oak.         7.     Mossy-cup  Oak. 

8.     Post  Oak.        9.     Chestnut  Oak. 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

a  town  in  Thessaly,  and  the  specific  name, 
dentala  (having  teeth),  refers  to  the  serrations 
of  the  leaf.  The  chestnut  is  found  throughout 
the  Northeastern  States. 

Oaks  There  are  in  all  nearly  three  hun- 

Quercus  dred  different  oaks  which  have 
been  described  by  botanists,  and  fifty  of  these 
are  found  in  North  America,  exclusive  of  Mex- 
ico. The  oaks  are  large  trees  of  temperate 
climates,  and  both  in  Europe  and  America  few 
trees  have  the  same  varied  and  general  useful- 
ness. The  extraordinary  strength  in  the  great, 
horizontal  branches,  their  breadth  and  lateral 
sweep,  and  the  rugged  boldness  of  the  trunk 
have  long  associated  the  oak  with  all  that  stands 
for  strength,  duration,  and  unswerving  vitality. 
An  oak  never  seems  out  of  place;  no  matter 
whether  we  find  it  growing  in  unbroken  forests, 
on  a  country  estate,  in  a  little  garden,  or  by  the 
roadside,  it  always  harmonizes  with  its  sur- 
roundings and  adds  to  the  composition  of  the 
landscape. 

Oaks  are  divided  into  two  groups,  the  white 
oaks  and  the  black  oaks.  In  New  England 
there  are  eleven  native  oaks,  six  white  oaks  and 
five  black.  The  white  oak,  the  swamp  white,  the 
mossy  cup,  the  chestnut,  the  dwarf  chestnut, 
and  the  post  oak  belong  to  the  first  group,  and 
83 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

the  black  oak,  the  red,  the  scarlet,  the  pin,  and 
the  bear  or  scrub  oak  belong  to  the  second 
group. 

The  oak  is  distinguished  from  all  other  trees 
by  its  acorn. 

The  general  characteristics  of  the  oaks  in 
winter  are  as  follows: — 

The  upper  lateral  buds  cluster  at  the  top  of 
the  twig. 

The  buds  have  a  tendency  towards  being 
five-sided  in  shape. 

The  bud  scales  are  close  and  overlapping. 

The  leaf-scars  project  from  the  stem. 

The  bundle-scars  are  scattered  over  the  leaf- 
scar. 

The  pith  is  five-angled.  By  cutting  a  twig 
across,  the  pith  can  be  seen  in  the  centre  in 
the  form  of  a  five-rayed  star. 

The  leaves  very  often  remain  on  oaks 
through  the  winter. 

The  following  characteristics  distinguish  the 
white  oaks  from  the  black  oaks : — 

The  bark  of  the  white  oaks  is  lighter  in  color 
than  that  of  the  black  oaks,  and  it  flakes  off  in 
strips  instead  of  breaking  away  in  coarse  ridges, 
as  it  does  in  the  black  oaks. 

The  acorns  of  the  white  oaks  mature  in  one 
yeat,  those  of  the  black  oaks  take  two  years  to 
84 


WHITE   OAK 

guercus   alba 


Page  85 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

ripen,  so  that  these  young  acorns  are  found  on 
the  branches  of  the  black  oak  in  winter. 

The  leaves  of  the  white  oaks  have  rounded 
lobes,  and  the  lobes  of  the  black  oak  leaves  are 
tipped  with  a  sharp  bristle  point. 

The  generic  name,  Quercus,  comes  from  the 
Celtic  quer  (fine)  and  cuez  (a  tree),  or  possibly 
it  may  be  derived  from  the  Greek  choiros,  a  pig, 
because  in  Europe  pigs  formerly  fed  on  the 
acorns  of  oak  trees. 

White  Oak  A  larSe  tree,  6o  to  8o  feet  high, 
Quercus  alba  w^  a  tmnk  often  six  feet  in  di- 
ameter. The  bark  is  light  gray;  the  twigs 
smooth  and  light  gray;  the  recent  shoots  light 
reddish  or  grayish  brown;  alternate  leaf-scars. 
Small,  round  buds,  smooth  and  short,  about  as 
long  as  they  are  wide.  Acorns  in  a  shallow, 
rough  cup,  often  sweet  and  edible. 

The  white  oak  seems  to  figure  in  one's  earli- 
est associations  with  the  woods  in  winter.  The 
sound  of  the  withered  leaves  rustling  in  the 
wind  is  peculiarly  suggestive  of  cold  weather 
and  dreariness,  and  invariably  strikes  the  key- 
note of  the  woods  on  a  bleak  December  day. 
Towards  the  end  of  winter  the  leaves  are  blown 
away  or  fall  off,  and  then  the  beautiful  ramifica- 
tions and  stalwart  limbs  of  the  trees  are  fully 
revealed.  I  have  often  noticed  in  the  country 
85 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

that  when  one  large,  old  white  oak  is  found 
growing  in  an  open  pasture,  there  are  usually 
five  or  six  more  of  the  same  size  and  age  within 
a  short  distance.  This  may  be  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  in  the  early  New  England  days 
these  trees  were  in  great  demand  for  ship-build- 
ing, and  farmers  waited  for  the  most  promising 
trees  to  reach  maturity  before  selling  them. 
On  some  farms  these  oaks  happened  to  escape 
the  axe,  and  have  not  only  outlived  the  men 
who  spared  them,  but  stand  for  landmarks  now, 
long  after  the  farms  themselves  have  been 
deserted  and  forgotten. 

The  wood  of  the  white  oak  is  very  heavy  and 
hard,  and  durable  in  contact  with  the  soil.  It 
is  used  in  the  construction  and  interior  finish 
of  buildings  and  in  ship-building,  for  making 
carriages,  cabinets,  agricultural  implements,  bas- 
kets, and  for  fences  and  railroad  ties.  It  also 
makes  excellent  firewood. 

The  specific  name  refers  to  the  light  color 
of  the  wood  and  bark  in  contrast  with  that  of 
the  black  oaks.  It  is  found  from  Southern 
Maine  to  Northern  Florida  and  westward. 

Swamp  White      A  larSe  tree>  6o  to  8o  leet  hi£h, 
Oak  common  in  swamps  and  where 

Quercusbicolor  ^      ^      ^      ^^        y^      ftfl^ 

shags  off  along  the  branches,   and  the  trunk  is 
86 


TRUNK   OF   A   WHITE   OAK 


Page  86 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

more  deeply  fissured  than  that  of  the  white  oak. 
The  twigs  are  coarser  than  those  oj  the  white 
oak,  often  shorter  in  length,  and  the  stems  are 
rounder.  Short,  thick-set  buds  and  alternate 
leaf -scars.  Acorns  set  in  a  shallow  cup,  often 
mossy-fringed  at  the  margin;  the  nut  is  sweet  and 
edible. 

When  once  the  swamp  white  oak's  peculiar- 
ities are  known  it  is  seldom  confused  with  any 
other  oak,  even  in  winter.  Its  unkempt  appear- 
ance, the  peeling  away  of  the  bark  along  the 
branches,  and  its  generally  straggling  habit  of 
growth  distinguish  it  quite  as  much  in  the 
winter  as  at  any  other  season  of  the  year;  it 
is  at  all  times  the  untidy  member  of  the  oak 
family.  The  branches  begin  very  low  down 
on  the  trunk  of  this  oak,  and  one  can  dis- 
tinguish the  tree  from  a  distance  in  this  way. 
Emerson  says  that  in  warm  and  sheltered 
situations  it  is  a  neat  and  beautiful  tree,  but 
that  when  it  is  too  much  exposed  to  the  east 
or  north  wind  it  shows  the  effect  by  its  ragged 
appearance;  as  one  sees  the  tree  generally 
through  Southeastern  New  England  one  de- 
duces from  its  appearance  that  the  prevalent 
winds  are  those  from  the  east  and  north. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  hard,  strong,  and  tough, 
and  is  used  for  the  same  things  that  that  of  the 
87 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN    WINTER 

white  oak  is  used  for,  and  is  not  distinguished 
from  it  commercially. 

The  former  name,  platanoides  (platanus-like), 
came  from  the  generic  name  of  the  plane  tree 
or  buttonwood,  and  refers  to  the  bark  of  the 
young  trees,  which,  like  that  of  the  button- 
wood,  separates  and  curls  off  in  large  thin  flakes 
along  the  branches. 

The  swamp  white  oak  grows  in  low,  wet 
ground  throughout  the  Northeastern  States. 

Mossy  Cup,        A  large  tree>  sometimes  l6°  !cet 

Overcup,  or        high.     The  bark  is  corky,  with 

Bur  Oak          corky   ridges    along   the    twigs. 

Quercus  macrocarpa        „,        ,,  7  •  L       . 7  i    ii 

The  buds  are  like  those  of  the 
swamp  white  oak,  but  the  scales  are  more  pointed. 
Often  the  dried  stipule  or  a  piece  of  it  is  left,  as 
it  is  persistent  in  this  species.  Alternate  leaf- 
scars.  The  acorn  is  almost  entirely  enclosed  in 
a  thick  cup  with  a  mossy  fringed  border. 

The  curious  corky  ridges  along  the  twigs 
distinguish  the  mossy  cup  oak  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year,  and  its  aspect  in  winter  is  unusual 
and  picturesque,  owing  to  this  peculiarity. 

The  branches  are  irregular,  the  buds  are 
small,  and  the  acorns  are  large  and  enclosed  for 
more  than  half  their  length  in  a  cup  covered 
with  prominent  scales  and  bordered  with  a 
thread-like  fringe.  Michaux  says  •  that  these 


MOSSY  CUP  OAK 


Page  SS 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

threads  do  not  appear  when  the  tree  is  in  the 
midst  of  a  forest  or  when  the  summers  are  not 
very  warm. 

The  wood  of  the  mossy  cup  oak  is  even 
more  valuable  than  that  of  the  white  oak.  It 
is  heavy,  strong,  hard,  tough,  close-grained,  and 
durable  in  contact  with  the  soil.  It  is  used 
for  the  same  purposes  as  that  of  the  white 
oak. 

One  can  easily  trace  the  family  resemblance 
between  the  mossy  cup  oak  and  the  cork  tree 
of  Southern  Europe,  which  yields  the  cork  of 
commerce. 

The  specific  name,  macrocarpa,  comes  from 
two  Greek  words  meaning  large  fruit,  and  refers 
to  the  cups  and  acorns.  The  mossy  cup  oak 
is  found  in  the  West  and  in  certain  localities 
in  New  England.  It  is  found  on  the  banks  of 
the  Penobscot  River  in  Maine,  on  the  shores 
of  Lake  Champlain  in  Vermont,  and  among 
the  Berkshire  Hills,  near  Stockbridge,  and  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ware  River  in  Massachusetts. 

~,  A    middle-sized    or    small    tree 

Chestnut  or 

Rock  Chestnut     usually,  although  ^t  is  sometimes 

Oak  100  feet  high.     The  bark  does 

not  flake.     The  buds  are  pointed, 

— an   exception   for   the   white   oaks.     The   buds 

are  long  in  proportion  to  their  width.     There  is 

89 


STUDIES    OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

no  pubescence  on  the  bud,  the  edges  of  the  scales 
are  bleached  and  have  turned  gray,  the  centres 
remaining  a  rich  reddish  brown.  Smooth, 
glossy  twigs,  more  apt  to  be  ridged  than  those 
oj  the  white  oak.  Atlernate  leaf-scars.  The 
acorn  is  covered  nearly  halfway  with  a  thick 
cup.  The  kernel  is  sweetish  and  edible. 

The  chestnut  oak  is  distinguished  in  winter 
by  its  beautiful  smooth  bark  and  by  its  pointed 
buds,  entirely  unlike  those  of  the  other  white 
oaks.  It  sometimes  grows  to  be  a  large  tree, 
but  in  New  England  it  is  usually  middle-sized 
or  small. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  hard,  strong,  and  close- 
grained,  and  is  used  for  making  fences,  railway 
ties,  and  for  fuel.  The  bark  is  rich  in  tannin, 
and  is  used  for  tanning  leather. 

The  specific  name  was  derived  from  the 
Greek,  and  was  the  ancient  name  for  an  oak 
tree. 

The  chestnut  oak  is  found  on  the  banks  of 
the  Saco  River  and  near  Mount  Agamenticus 
in  Southern  Maine,  among  the  Blue  Hills  and 
in  rich  woods  in  Massachusetts,  and  it  becomes 
more  common  as  one  goes  south. 

The  dwarf  chestnut,  or  chinquapin  oak 
(Quercus  prinoides),  is  the  smallest  member  of 
the  oak  family  in  New  England,  and  seldom 
90 


A  YOUNG  POST  OAK 
Quercus  stellata 


Page  90 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

grows  to  be  more  than  two  or  three  feet  high. 
It  is  found  in  Massachusetts  and  in  the  South 
and  West. 

It  is  a  small  shrub  of  no  commercial  value, 
although  its  little  branches  are  rich  in  tannin. 
The  specific  name,  prinoides,  means  prinus- 
like,  the  name  of  the  chestnut  oak,  and  refers 
to  the  general  resemblance  between  the  two 
species. 

Post  or  Rough  A  ^dium-sized  tree,  40  to  50  feet 
Oak  high.  Buds  and  twigs  stumpy 

Quercus  stellata 


ing.  Buds  very  round  and  rusty.  Twig  persist- 
ently rough,  alternate  leaj-scars,  the  bark  is  hard 
and  rough.  Acorn  enclosed  in  a  deep,  saucer- 
shaped  cup. 

The  branches  of  the  post  oak  are  so  thick  set, 
short,  and  crooked  that  this  oak  is  seldom  con- 
fused with  any  other.  It  rarely  grows  to  be 
more  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  high,  and 
the  many  low,  crooked  branches,  crowded  to- 
gether at  the  base  of  the  trunk,  give,  as  Emer- 
son says,  the  effect  of  the  top  of  a  tree  whose 
trunk  is  under  ground.  The  leaves  of  the  post 
oak  are  often  held  through  the  winter,  and  they 
are  so  stiff,  rough,  and  abundant  that  they  are,  in 
themselves,  a  distinguishing  mark.  The  speci- 
men in  the  Arnold  Arboretum,  from  which  the 
91 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

accompanying  photograph  was  taken,  holds  its 
leaves  later  in  the  spring  than  any  of  the  other 
oaks. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  close-grained,  hard,  and 
durable,  but  it  is  difficult  to  season.  It  is  used 
in  the  construction  of  houses,  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  carriages,  and  for  cooperage,  fencing, 
railway  ties,  and  for  fuel. 

The  former  name,  minor  (smaller),  referred  to 
the  height  of  this  oak  as  compared  with  that  of 
the  larger  members  of  the  family. 

The  post  oak  is  found  from  Southern  Mas- 
sachusetts— on  Cape  Cod,  on  the  islands  of 
Martha's  Vineyard  and  Naushon — to  North- 
ern Florida  and,  in  certain  localities,  west  to 
Eastern  Kansas. 

Black  Oak       A  large  tree,  70  to  80  and  (rarely) 

Quercus  velutina         j  ^o  jeei  high.      Bark  thick,  WUgh, 

and  dark.  Twigs  smooth,  with  a  bitter  taste. 
Alternate  lea j -scars.  Buds  very  downy,  sharp- 
pointed,  and  large.  The  acorns  are  set  in  a 
deep,  conspicuously  scaly  cup.  The  kernel  is 
bitter. 

The  black  oak  is  distinguished  by  its  rough, 
dark  outer  bark  and  rich  yellow  inner  bark 
(which  is  seen  when  a  small  cut  is  made  with 
a  penknife),  and  its  downy  pointed  buds.  On 
young  trees  as  well  as  old  ones,  the  bark  is  very 
92 


Page  92 


BLACK    OAK 
Quercus  velutina 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

rough  at  the  base  of  the  trunk,  and  this  rough- 
ness extends  upwards  in  old  trees. 

The  round,  thin,  brittle  balls  found  on  black 
oaks  and  known  as  oak-apples  are  produced  by 
an  insect  which  injures  the  leaf  by  puncturing 
it  and  depositing  an  egg.  This  causes  irritation 
and  an  abnormal  growth,  from  which  the  apple 
is  formed.  The  grub  which  lives  inside  this 
excrescence  becomes  a  chrysalis  in  the  autumn, 
and  changes  to  a  fly  in  the  spring,  when  it 
gnaws  its  way  out  by  making  a  little  hole 
through  the  shell. 

The  wood  of  the  black  oak  is  heavy,  hard, 
and  strong,  but  not  tough,  and  it  is  liable  to 
check  in  drying.  The  bark  is  rich  in  tannin, 
and  it  makes  a  yellow  dye, — quercitron, — 
obtained  from  the  inner  bark.  Used  medici- 
nally the  bark  is  an  astringent. 

The  specific  name,  velutina,  was  taken  origi- 
nally from  the  Latin  word  vellus,  meaning  shorn 
wool,  and  was  applied  by  botanists  to  this  tree 
on  account  of  the  fleecy  character  of  the  recent 
stems  and  leaves.  The  black  oak  is  found  grow- 
ing throughout  New  England  and  in  the  South 
and  West. 

Red  Oak          ^  large  tree,  60  to  1 50  feet  high, 
Quercus  rubra        The  bark  is  fissured  in  long  clefts, 
with   broad,    smooth   places   between,    giving   the 
93 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

trunk  a  -fluted  column  effect.  Large,  sharp- 
pointed  buds,  with  close  scales.  The  red  oak 
buds  resemble  to  some  extent  those  of  the  chestnut 
oak,  but  there  is  a  fine  hair  on  the  scales  of  the 
red  oak  buds,  while  the  scales  oj  the  chestnut  oak 
buds  are  bleached  and  have  no  hair.  Where  the 
base  of  the  bud  joins  the  stem  the  buds  of  the  red 
oak  are  more  constricted  than  those  oj  the  chest- 
nut oak,  and  the  chestnut  oak  buds  seem  more 
sessile.  Alternate  leaf -scars.  Acorn  set  in  a 
shallow  cup  oj  fine  scales. 

The  red  oak  is  a  lofty,  wide-spreading  tree  of 
great  beauty.  "No  other  oak,"  Emerson  says, 
"flourishes  so  readily  in  every  situation,  no 
other  is  of  so  rapid  growth,  no  other  surpasses 
it  in  beauty  of  foliage  and  of  trunk;  no  oak 
attains,  in  this  climate,  to  more  magnificent 
dimensions;  no  tree,  except  the  white  oak, 
gives  us  so  noble  an  idea  of  strength. " 

It  is  perhaps  of  all  the  black  oak  group,  the 
easiest  to  distinguish  in  winter  on  account  of 
the  smooth  spaces  between  the  fissures  of  the 
bark  on  its  trunk,  and  its  pointed  buds,  which  are 
much  less  downy  than  those  of  the  black  oak. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  hard,  and  strong,  but  it 
is  not  particularly  valuable.     It  is  used  in  the 
construction   and   interior   finish   of   houses  and 
for  making  cheap  furniture. 
94 


RED  OAK 

uercus   rubra 


Page  94 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

The  specific  name,  rubra,  was  given  to  it  on 
account  of  the  rich,  red  midrib  and  veins  of 
the  leaves. 

It  is  the  oak  which  is  found  farthest  north, 
and  it  grows  in  all  kinds  of  soil  from  Nova 
Scotia  southward  to  Northern  Georgia.  The 
red  oak  was  one  of  the  earliest  American  trees 
introduced  into  Europe. 

Scarlet  Oak        A  larSe  tree,  60  to  80  feet  high. 

Quercua  cocdnea  The  bark  is  grayish  and  not 
deeply  furrowed.  Slender  twigs,  with  small 
alternate  leaf-scars.  Small  buds,  the  tips  being 
half  as  hairy  as  those  of  the  black  oak,  while  the 
bases  are  smooth.  The  acorn  is  one-half  or 
more  enclosed  in  a  coarsely  scaled  cup.  Its 
kernel  is  bitter. 

The  scarlet  oak  is  the  most  brilliant  member 
of  the  oak  family.  In  summer  its  leaves  are  a 
shining  green,  in  autumn  they  turn  more  glow- 
ingly red  than  those  of  any  other  oak,  and  in 
winter  its  buds  and  stems  are  smooth,  and  show 
more  color  than  those  of  the  other  members  of 
the  genus.  Its  outline  is  less  spreading  in  shape 
than  those  of  oaks  generally,  and  the  bark  of  the 
trunk  is  not  so  coarsely  furrowed  as  the  black 
oak's,  nor  so  smooth  as  that  of  the  red  oak. 

The  wood  is  heavy  and  hard,  and  is  used  for 
the  same  purposes  as  red  oak. 
95 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

The  specific  name,  coccinea  (of  a  scarlet 
color),  refers  to  the  hue  of  the  foliage  in  the 
autumn. 

The  scarlet  oak  is  found  growing  throughout 
the  Northeastern  States  and  also  in  the  South 
and  West. 

Pin  Oak         ^  small  or  medium-sized  tree  in 

Quercua  pdustris  j\/~ew  England,  although  it  reaches 
the  height  of  120  jeet  in  the  forests  of  the  West. 
It  is  excurrent  in  growth.  In  its  youth  the 
branches  are  rigid  and  horizontal,  and  have  a 
tendency  to  droop  stiffly  towards  the  ground. 
The  branches  and  twigs  are  persistent,  some  of 
the  twigs  often  becoming  small,  stiff,  pin-like 
spurs,  which  are  a  distinctive  characteristic  of 
the  tree.  The  buds  are  small  and  the  twigs  slen- 
der. Alternate  leaf -scars.  The  acorn  is  half 
an  inch  long,  in  a  shallow,  saucer-shaped  cup 
with  thin  scales. 

The  outline  of  the  pin  oak  is  not  in  the  least 
like  that  of  any  other  oak  after  its  leaves  have 
fallen;  for  while  most  oaks  are  distinguished  by 
their  far-reaching  lateral  branches  which  divide 
a  short  distance  at  the  trunk,  the  pin 'oak  car- 
ries its  main  stem  to  the  top  of  the  tree,  and 
the  lateral  branches  grow  from  the  trunk,  form- 
ing a  pyramidal  head.  In  the  forests  where  it 
grows  in  swamps  and  wet  places,  it  loses  this 
96 


TRUNK  OF  A   RED  OAK 


Page  95 


THE  BEECH,  CHESTNUT,  AND  OAKS 

shape,  but  even  then  the  branches  are  character- 
istically rigid  and  grow  near  together.  The 
pyramidal  shape  of  this  tree,  its  small,  delicate 
buds  and  branches,  and  the  pin-like  twigs,  from 
which  it  takes  its  name  of  pin  oak,  make  it  easily 
recognized  as  we  see  it  growing  in  our  parks 
and  gardens. 

The  wood  is  hard  and  strong,  where  the  tree 
is  found  growing  commonly,  and  is  used  in  the 
construction  of  houses  and  for  shingles  and 
clapboards. 

The  specific  name  is  from  the  Latin  paluster, 
an  adjective  meaning  swampy  or  boggy,  and 
has  reference  to  the  moisture-seeking  character- 
istics of  the  tree. 

The  pin  oak  is  found  growing  on  the  banks 
of  the  Connecticut  River  in  Massachusetts, 
but  it  occurs  more  commonly  in  the  South  and 
West. 

The  scrub  or  bear  oak  (Quercus  ilicifolia)  is 
a  dwarfed,  straggling  bush,  three  to  ten  feet  high, 
and  found  on  sandy,  barren,  and  rocky  hills  from 
Maine  to  Carolina.  The  former  name,  pumila 
(dwarf),  was  given  to  it  on  account  of  its  size 
and  crooked  manner  of  growth. 


97 


Page  96 


PIN  OAK 

guercus  falustris 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  ELMS  AND  THE  HACKBERRY 


The  Slippery  Elm  and  the  American  Elm. 


Chapter  VIII 
THE   ELMS   AND   THE   HACKBERRY 

Family  Ulmaceae 

THE  members  of  this  family  are  found 
in  Europe,  Asia,  and  North  America. 
Two  genera,  the  elm  ( Ulmus]  and  the 
hackberry  (Celtis\  are  found  in  the  Northeast- 
ern States. 

The  elms  are  remarkable  for  the  massive 
strength  of  their  trunk  and  limbs  and  for  the 
light  delicacy  of  their  small  branches  and  twigs 
as  we  see  them  against  the  sky  in  winter.  The 
American  and  English  elms  particularly  are 
really  more  beautiful  in  winter  than  in  summer, 
when  the  contrast  between  the  little  twigs  and 
the  little  branches  is  hidden  by  the  leaves.  The 
elms  are  all  long-lived  trees  and  grow  rapidly. 
They  bear  transplanting  and  pruning  better 
than  any  other  tree,  and  grow  on  almost  any 
kind  of  soil.  If  it  were  not  for  the  attacks  of 
insects,  to  which  the  elms  seem  peculiarly  liable, 
no  trees  would  be  more  deserving  of  cultiva- 
tion. Perhaps  no  other  tree  is  so  strongly 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

associated  in  our  minds  with  the  beautiful  old 
valley  towns  and  hillside  villages  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  to  the  elms  they  largely  owe  their 
beauty.     Three  indigenous  elms  are  found  in 
the   Northeastern    States,  the    American,  slip- 
pery, and  cork  elms,  and  two  from  Europe,  the 
English   and   the    Scotch  or   Dutch  elms,  are 
planted  commonly  in  our  gardens  and  parks. 
American  or  A  lar^  fading  tree,  with  grace- 
White  Elm  ful,  drooping   branches.     Smooth 
uimutam.ricana  brown  twigs  ;  alternate  leaf -scars. 
The  terminal  and  lateral  buds  are  the  same  size  ; 
the  flower  buds  are  larger.     The  flowers  come 
before  the  leaves  in  the  early  spring,  and  the 
fruit,  a  small  round  samara,  ripens  later  in  the 
spring. 

The  American  elm  stands  absolutely  alone 
among  trees  for  its  especial  kind  of  beauty. 
No  other  tree  combines  such  strength  and  lofty 
stateliness  with  so  much  fine  work  and  delicacy. 
Its  trunk  divides  a  short  distance  from  the 
ground  into  many  large,  spreading  branches, 
which  stretch  up  high  into  the  air  and  support 
the  waving,  drooping,  curving  twigs  and  small 
branches. 

It  is  interesting  to  find  how  many  distinct 
shapes  the  American  elm  takes.  These  are  so 
varied  that  many  people  think  that  each  form 

102 


AMERICAN   ELM,   LANCASTER,   MASS. 

Ulmus   americana 
(From  a  photograph  by  Mr.  Eli  Forbes) 


Page 


THE    ELMS   AND    THE    HACKBERRY 

is  a  separate  species,  but  they  are  all  different 
types  of  the  same  tree.  The  Etruscan  vase  is 
one  of  the  most  familiar  shapes  of  this  elm.  Its 
trunk  divides  a  short  way  from  the  ground  into 
several  equally  large  branches,  and  the  top  of 
the  tree  is  flat,  with  down-sweeping  lateral 
branches.  The  beautiful  Lancaster  elm,  from 
which  the  accompanying  photograph  was  taken, 
belongs  to  this  Etruscan  vase  form.  Another 
well-known  shape  is  the  plume,  which  may  be 
either  single  or  compound.  In  these  trees  the 
single  trunk  or  two  or  three  parallel  limbs  rise 
to  a  great  height  without  branches,  and  these 
spread  into  one  or  two  light  waving  plumes. 
Many  of  these  plume  elms  are  found  in  the 
Berkshire  Hills  and  throughout  New  England 
where  the  woods  have  been  cut  away  and  the 
elms  have  been  left  standing.  The  oak  form, 
still  another  shape  the  elm  occasionally  takes, 
is  broad  and  round-headed,  with  heavy  lateral 
branches  which  extend  in  a  horizontal  direction 
in  a  manner  very  suggestive  of  the  white  oak. 
This  is  not  so  common  as  the  vase  and  plume 
elms,  and  only  occurs  when  the  tree  has  grown 
in  an  open  situation  with  plenty  of  air  and 
light.  A  fine  specimen  of  this  tree  stands  near 
the  Pratt  house,  in  Concord,  Massachusetts. 
"  Feathered "  elms  are  those  which  have  a 
103 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

growth  of  little  twigs  along  the  trunk  and 
branches.  They  may  feather  any  of  the  differ- 
ent forms  already  described,  and  they  come  from 
latent  buds  which  may  have  been  dormant  for 
years  before  opening. 

"  The  white  elm,"  Professor  Charles  S.  Sar- 
gent says,  "is  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
graceful  trees  of  the  Northeastern  States  and 
Canada.  It  is  beautiful  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year, — when  its  minute  flowers,  harbingers  of 
earliest  spring,  cover  the  branches ;  when  in 
summer  it  rises  like  a  great  fountain  of  dark 
and  brilliant  green  above  its  humbler  com- 
panions of  the  forest  or  sweeps  with  long  and 
graceful  boughs  the  placid  waters  of  some 
stream  flowing  through  verdant  meadows ; 
when  autumn  delicately  tints  its  leaves ;  and 
when  winter  brings  out  every  detail  of  the 
great  arching  limbs  and  slender  pendulous 
branches  standing  out  in  clear  relief  against 
the  sky. 

"  The  elm  trees  which  greeted  the  English 
colonists  as  they  landed  on  the  shores  of  New 
England  seemed  like  old  friends  from  their 
general  resemblance  to  the  elm  trees  that  had 
stood  by  their  cottages  at  home ;  and  as  the 
forest  gave  way  to  cornfields  many  elm  trees 
were  allowed  to  escape  the  axe,  and  when  a 
104 


THE    ELMS   AND   THE    HACKBERRY 

home  was  made  a  sapling  elm  taken  from  the 
borders  of  a  neighboring  swamp  was  often  set 
to  guard  the  rooftree.  These  elm  trees,  rem- 
nants of  the  forest  which  covered  New  Eng- 
land when  it  was  first-  inhabited  by  white  men, 
or  planted  during  the  first  century  of  their 
occupation,  are  now  dead  or  rapidly  dis- 
appearing; they  long  remained  the  noblest 
and  most  imposing  trees  of  the  Northern  States, 
and  no  others  planted  by  man  in  North 
America  have  equalled  the  largest  of  them  in 
beauty  and  size." 

The  wood  is  heavy,  tough,  and  difficult  to 
split  It  is  used  for  making  the  hubs  of  wheels 
and  for  flooring,  cooperage,  and  boat-building. 

The  generic  name,  Ulmus,  comes  from  ulm 
or  elm,  the  Saxon  name  of  the  tree,  the  specific 
name  explains  itself.  The  American  elm  is 
found  from  Newfoundland  to  Florida  and  as 
far  west  as  the  eastern  base  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 
Slippery  or  A  medium- sized  tree,  45  to  60 

Red  Elm       feet  high.      The  twigs  are  gray 

uimusfuiva         ana>  fo^ ie^  uniike   the  smooth 

twigs  of  the  white  elm.  Alternate  leaf-scars, 
which  are  more  conspicuous  than  those  of  the 
white  elm.  The  buds  are  larger  and  rounder 
than  those  of  the  white  elm ;  they  are  soft  and 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN    WINTER 

downy,  and  are  covered  with  reddish  brown 
hairs.  The  inner  bark  is  very  mucilaginous. 

Country  boys  know  the  slippery  elm  for  its 
sweet  mucilage,  just  as  they  know  the  shag- 
bark  for  its  nuts,  the  sassafras  for  its  aromatic 
roots,  and  the  spruce  for  its  gum  ;  and  this 
mucilaginous  characteristic  is  a  certain  means 
of  determining  the  tree. 

In  form  it  is  less  drooping  than  the  white 
elm  and  it  is  also  much  smaller.  The  hairy 
buds  give  the  whole  tree  a  reddish  color  in 
spring,  and  from  this  it  probably  takes  the 
name  of  red  elm;  the  slippery  elm  is  a  more 
characteristic  name  however,  as  few  trees  have 
such  a  slippery  inner  bark.  These  hairy  brown 
buds  are  among  the  prettiest  to  be  found  on 
any  trees  in  winter.  Compared  with  the  smooth, 
hard  buds  on  many  trees,  they  are  what  soft, 
long-haired  Angoras  are  to  ordinary  cats. 

The  wood  is  strong,  hard,  and  close-grained 
and  is  used  for  making  posts,  railroad  ties,  and 
agricultural  implements.  The  inner  bark  is 
used  for  imnammatory  diseases  and  externally 
for  poultices. 

Its  former  name,  pubescens  (down  or  soft 
hair),  referred  to  the  pubescence  on  the  buds 
and  leaves  and  along  the  recent  shoots. 

The  slippery  elm  is  found  in  certain  local- 
106 


YOUNG  CORK  ELM 
Ulmus  racemosa 


Page  107 


THE    ELMS  AND    THE    HACKBERRY 

ities  throughout  the  Atlantic  States,  it  is  not 
common  in  Eastern  Massachusetts. 

Cork  or  Rock    A  larSe  tree>  8o  to  ^o  feet  high, 

Elm  known  by  the  peculiar  corky  ridges 

uimus  racemosa      alon^.   the   ^^/^     Alternate 

leaf-scars.     The  recent  twigs  and  the  scales  of 
the  bud  are  fringed  with  downy  hair. 

In  New  England  the  cork  elm  is  found  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  New  Hampshire  and 
in  Southern  Vermont.  It  is  rare  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  would  probably  be  found  only 
in  the  western  part  of  the  State  growing  wild. 
Neither  Michaux  nor  Emerson  has  described 
the  cork  elm.  Nuttall  says  that  it  was  discovered 
in  the  State  of  New  York  by  a  Mr.  Thomas, 
and  he  gives  the  tree  the  name  "  Thomas's 
elm,"  which  has  fortunately  not  been  retained. 

The  wood  is  tougher  and  of  somewhat  finer 
grain  than  that  of  the  white  elm,  and  in  the 
"Silva  of  North  America,"  Professor  Sargent 
says  :  "  The  value  of  the  wood  of  the  rock  elm 
threatens  its  extinction  ;  and  most  of  the  large 
trees  have  already  been  cut  in  the  forests  of 
Canada,  New  England,  New  York,  and  Michigan. 
The  rock  elm  is  sometimes  planted  as  a  shade 
tree  in  the  region  which  it  inhabits  naturally, 
and  although  it  grows  rather  more  slowly  than 
the  white  elm,  it  is  a  handsome  and  distinct 
107 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

ornamental  tree  which  planters  have  too  gener- 
ally neglected." 

The  specific  name,  racemosa (cluster-flowered), 
refers  to  the  flowers  which  grow  in  a  raceme. 

It  is  found  in  New  England,  its  range  ex- 
tending southward  and  westward. 

English  Elm  A  tal1  tree^  more  upright  in 
uimus  campesMs  growth  than  the  American  elm. 
The  branches  are  less  spreading  and  more  erect 
than  those  of  the  American  species.  In  this 
climate  it  is  often  distinguished  by  the  little 
tufts  of  dead  twigs  on  the  tree.  The  bark  is 
darker  and  coarser  than  that  of  the  American 
elm ;  the  buds  and  twigs  differ  very  little  from 
those  of  our  species. 

The  English  elm  is  found  planted  frequently 
throughout  New  England,  and  there  are  many 
fine  specimens  in  Massachusetts,  especially 
in  the  country  about  Boston.  According  to 
Emerson,  they  were  originally  said  to  be  im- 
ported and  planted  by  a  wheelwright  for  his 
own  use  in  making  the  hubs  of  wheels,  for  which 
purpose  the  wood  of  the  English  elm  is  superior 
to  any  other.  At  all  events,  there  are  many 
beautiful  specimens  growing  near  old  colonial 
houses,  and  sometimes  they  are  found  growing 
by  stone  walls  at  some  distance  from  the  house, 
back  of  farm  buildings  and  barns,  as  was 
1 08 


ENGLISH   ELMS 
Ulmus  campestris 


Page  108 


THE    ELMS   AND   THE    HACKBERRY 

the   group   from  which   I   took   the  following 
photograph. 

The  American  elm  is  more  graceful  than 
the  English  elm,  which,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
more  stately ;  both  trees  are  unusually  beautiful, 
although  representing  such  different  types  of 
beauty.  In  the  "Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast- 
Table,"  Dr.  Holmes  contrasts  the  English  and 
American  elms  growing  on  Boston  Common. 
"  Go  out  with  me  into  that  walk  which  we  call 
the  Mall,"  he  says,  "  and  look  at  the  English 
and  American  elms.  The  American  elm  is 
tall,  graceful,  slender-sprayed,  and  drooping  as 
if  from  languor.  The  English  elm  is  compact, 
robust,  holds  its  branches  up,  and  carries  its 
leaves  for  weeks  longer  than  our  own  native 
tree.  Is  this  typical  of  the  creative  force  on 
the  two  sides  of  the  ocean  or  not  ?  " 

In  England  the  elm  has  been  planted  from 
the  time  of  the  Romans,  though  Dr.  Walker 
thinks  that  it  was  brought  over  at  the  time  of 
the  Crusades.  The  elm  was  planted  by  the 
Romans  as  a  prop  for  grape  vines,  and  in  the 
South  of  Italy  it  is  still  used  for  that  purpose. 
In  "  Paradise  Lost "  Milton  refers  to  this  when 
he  describes  how  Adam  and  Eve  spent  their 
time  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Among  various 
other  occupations, 

109 


STUDIES   OF   TREES  IN   WINTER 

"  They  led  the  vine 

To  wed  her  elm  ;  she  spoused  about  him  twines 
Her  marriageable  arms  ;  and  with  her  brings 
Her  dower,  the  adopted  clusters  to  adorn 
His  barren  leaves." 

Columella  tells  us  that  vineyards  with  elm 
trees  as  props  were  named  arbusta,  the  vines 
themselves  being  called  arbustiva  vita,  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  others  raised  in  more  con- 
fined situations.  Once  in  two  years  the  elms 
were  carefully  pruned  to  prevent  their  leaves 
from  overshadowing  the  grapes ;  this  was  con- 
sidered of  great  importance,  and  we  have  a 
better  understanding  of  Virgil's  reproach  to 
Corydon,  who  neglected  both  his  elms  and 
vines,  when  we  realize  this :  — 

"  Semiputate  tibi  frondosa  vitis  in  ulmo  est." 
(Your  vine  half  pruned  upon  the  leafy  elm.) 

In  Ovid,  Vertumnus  alludes  to  the  mutual 
dependence  of  the  elm  and  the  vine  when  he 
assures  Pomona  of  the  advantages  of  a  happy 
marriage:  — 

"  '  If  that  fair  elm,'  he  cried,  'alone  should  stand 
No  grapes  would  glow  with  gold,  and  tempt  the  hand ; 
Or  if  that  vine  without  her  elm  should  grow, 
'T  would  creep  a  poor  neglected  shrub,  below.'  " 

The  specific  name,  campestris,  comes  from 
the  Latin  word  meaning  belonging  to  a  plain 
or  field. 


SCOTCH   ELM 

Ultnus  glabra 


Page  no 


THE    ELMS   AND    THE    HACKBERRY 

Scotch,  Dutch,  A  medium-sized  tree,  50  to  60 
or  Wych  Elm  feet  high.  The  bark  is  smooth 

Ulmusglabra  ^   ^^          y^      orancheS     are 

spreading  and  somewhat  drooping.  The  buds 
are  not  downy  like  those  of  the  slippery  elm. 

The  Scotch  elm,  likeg  the  English  elm,  is 
extensively  cultivated  in  the  parks  and  gardens 
about  Boston,  and  it  is  frequently  planted  along 
roadsides.  It  is  less  upright  and  tall  than  the 
English  elm,  its  average  height  being  about 
forty  feet,  and  it  has  a  more  spreading  head. 

The  Scotch  elm,  according  to  Gerard,  had 
various  uses  in  ancient  times.  Its  wood  was 
made  into  bows,  and  its  bark,  which  is  so  tough 
that  it  will  strip  or  peel  off  from  the  wood 
from  one  end  of  a  bough  to  the  other  without 
breaking,  was  made  into  ropes.  Its  wood  was 
not  considered  so  good  for  naves  as  that  of 
the  English  elm,  though  in  Scotland  it  is  used 
by  ship-builders,  the  block  and  pump  maker, 
the  cartwright  and  cabinet  maker.  Loudon 
says  in  his  "  Arboretum  et  Fruticetum  Britan- 
nicum  " :  "  In  many  parts  of  the  country,  the 
wych  elm,  or  witch-hazel,  as  it  is  still  occa- 
sionally called,  is  considered  a  preservative 
against  witches  ;  probably  from  the  coincidence, 
between  the  words  'wych'  and  'witch.'  In 
some  of  the  midland  counties,  even  to  the  pres- 


STUDIES    OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

ent  day,  a  little  cavity  is  made  in  the  churn  to 
receive  a  small  portion  of  witch-hazel,  without 
which  the  dairymaids  imagine  that  they  would 
not  be  able  to  get  the  butter  to  come." 

The  former  name,  montana,  from  the  Latin 
word  meaning  living  on  mountains,  was  given 
to  this  tree  because  it  is  found  growing,  not 
only  in  the  plains  and  valleys,  like  Ulmus 
campestris,  but  also  in  the  remote  highlands 
where  it  finds  a  foothold  and  flourishes  on 
the  steep  slopes  of  the  mountains. 

A     small  tree,    20    to    so    feet 
Hackberry,  / 

Sugarberry,      nigh,  with  slender,  wide-spread- 

Nettle  Tree     ing  branches.     The  terminal  buds 

Celtis  occidentalis  77-  ,7        j  j 

are  lacking,  the  lateral  ones  are 
flattened  and  pointed  and  somewhat  hairy.  The 
twigs  are  dark  grayish  brown  with  white  cham- 
bered pith  inside  the  stems.  The  leaf-scars  are 
semi-oval  with  three  bundle-scars  and  alternate 
in  arrangement.  The  fruit  is  reddish,  turning 
dark  purple ;  it  is  round  and  berry-like  and 
about  the  size  of  a  currant. 

The  hackbgrry  grows  wild  in  Massachusetts, 
but  it  is  found  rarely  and  is  generally  mistaken 
for  an  elm.  It  grows  commonly  in  lowland 
woods  in  Western  New  York  and  the  Middle 
States,  and  it  can  be  identified  both  in  winter 
and  summer  by  the  white  chambered  pith, 


HACKBERRV 

Celtis  occidentalis 


Page  112 


THE    ELMS   AND   THE    HACKBERRY 

which  is  found  by  cutting  a  stem  of  recent 
growth.  The  dried  fruit,  which  hangs  on  the 
stems  through  the  winter,  is  also  another  means 
of  recognizing  the  tree,  —  this  berry-like  fruit 
can  be  seen  in  the  photograph  which  I  took  as 
late  in  the  deciduous  season  as  April  thirteenth. 
It  is  a  round-headed  tree  with  a  short  trunk 
and  usually  a  broad  spread  of  branches,  but  in 
the  basin  of  the  Ohio  River  it  grows  to  be  a 
tall  and  stately  tree. 

The  wood  is  heavy  and  coarsely  grained, 
and  is  used  for  fences  and  for  making  cheap 
furniture. 

The  generic  name,  Celtis,  is  the  ancient 
Greek  name  for  the  lotus  berry;  and  the 
specific  name,  occidentals  (belonging  to  the 
west),  designates  its  American  origin. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  BUTTONWOOD,  THE  TUPELO, 
AND   THE   MULBERRIES 


The  Buttonwood,  showing  the  hollow  base  of  the  leat-stalk  which  covers  the  bud 
until  the  leaf  falls. 


Chapter    IX 

THE  BUTTONWOOD,  THE    TUPELO,  AND 
THE    MULBERRIES 

Families  Platanaceae,  Cornaceae,  and  Moracae 

THERE  is  but  one  genus  in  the  family 
Platanacea,  and  but  one  species  in  the 
genus  found   growing   in   the  North- 
eastern States,  the  buttonwood,  or  sycamore. 

A  large  tree,  80  to  loofeet  high, 
Buttonwood,         .  ,   *        .  .  : 

Sycamore,  or    «*W    an   irregular,  picturesque 

Plane  Tree      outline.      The  bark  breaks  off  in 

Platanus  occidentals  .     •,,/./,  ,,/       z  /- 

thin,  brittle  plates  at  the  base  of 
the  trunk,  and  higher  up  it  is  smooth,  an  olive 
green  color,  and  covered  with  white  blotches. 
The  buds  are  subpetiolar,  —  that  is,  they  are 
covered  over  by  the  base  of  the  leafstalk  through 
the  summer,  and  concealed  entirely  until  the 
leaf  drops  off.  The  leaf -scar  is  in  the  shape  of 
a  ring  around  the  bud,  with  prominent  bundle- 
scars  ;  the  arrangement  of  the  leaf-scars  is  alter- 
nate. Stipule  scars  are  found  on  the  stems 
in  some  places.  The  buds  are  conical,  smooth, 
117 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

and  brown,  and  are  covered  by  one  scale.  The 
fruit  hangs  on  the  tree  all  winter,  —  a  large, 
dry  ball  made  ^lp  of  hundreds  of  seeds. 

Like  everything  which  has  a  definite  in- 
dividuality, the  buttonwood  is  a  tree  which 
people  either  like  or  dislike  strongly.  It  is 
certainly  picturesque,  and  its  subpetiolar  buds 
alone  make  it  unusually  interesting,  whether 
one  admires  it  or  not  from  an  aesthetic  point 
of  view.  These  buds  are  entirely  concealed 
through  the  summer  by  the  hollow  bases  of 
the  leafstalks  which  fit  over  the  buds  like 
candle  extinguishers,  and  leave  scars  in  circles 
after  they  have  fallen. 

Its  bark  has  little  expansive  power,  the  tissue 
is  rigid  and  cannot  stretch  with  the  growing 
power  from  within,  and  it  'splits  and  is  thrown 
off  easily.  In  connection  with  this,  Dr.  Holmes 
says  in  "  The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast- 
Table  " :  — 

"  The  buttonwood  throws  off  its  bark  in 
large  flakes,  which  one  may  find  lying  at  its 
foot,  pushed  out,  and  at  last  pushed  off,  by 
that  tranquil  movement  from  beneath,  which 
is  too  slow  to  be  seen,  but  too  powerful  to  be 
arrested.  One  finds  them  always,  but  one 
rarely  sees  them  fall.  So  it  is  our  youth  drops 
from  us  —  scales  off,  sapless  and  lifeless,  and 
118 


BUTTON  WOOD 
Platanus  occidentalis 


Page  118 


TRUNK   OF  A  BUTTON  WOOD 


Page  1 19 


BUTTONWOOD   AND    MULBERRIES 

lays  bare  the  tender  and  immature  fresh  growth 
of  old  age." 

Bryant  says  in  his  poem,  "  To  the  Green 
River  " :  — 

"  Clear  are  its  depths  where  its  eddies  play, 
And  dimples  deepen  and  whirl  away, 
And  the  plane  tree's  speckled  arms  o'ershoot 
The  swifter  current  that  mines  its  root." 

Gray  calls  the  buttonwood  our  largest  tree, 
and  Emerson  alludes  to  it  as  "  the  largest,  grand- 
est, and  loftiest  deciduous  tree  in  America ;  " 
while  Gilpin  says  that  "  no  tree  forms  a  more 
pleasing  shade  than  the  occidental  plane." 

The  wood  takes  a  good  polish  and  is  used 
for  making  furniture,  ox  yokes,  and  for  the 
interior  finish  of  houses. 

The  generic  name,  Platanus,  comes  from 
the  Greek  word  for  broad,  and  has  reference 
to  the  wide-spreading  leaves  and  branches  of 
the  tree.  The  specific  name,  occidentalis,  was 
given  to  the  sycamore  as  distinctive  from 
Platanus  orientalis,  the  oriental  plane  tree  of 
Europe.  The  oriental  plane  is  planted  occa- 
sionally in  this  country,  and  may  be  distin- 
guished from  our  native  species  by  its  broader 
head  and  by  the  fruit,  which  frequently 
hangs  in  clusters  instead  of  singly  on  the 
tree. 

119 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

The  Cornacece  or  dogwood  family  contains 
two  New  England  genera.  Among  many 
species  of  shrubs,  two  trees  deserve  especial 
notice,  the  tupelo  and  the  flowering  dogwood. 

A  medium-sized  tree,  with  hori- 
Tupelo,  Pep- 
peridge,  Sour     zontal  branches  and  often  with 

Gum  Tree        an  excurrent  trunk.    Dark  gray 

Nyssa  sylvatica  r  i  j        T          y^1  •    T     j 

furrowed  bark,  (jrraytsh  brown 
twigs,  with  alternate  ridged  leaf-scars  and  three 
bundle-scars  at  the  lop  of  the  leaf-scar.  Small, 
brown  buds,  with  overlapping,  hairy  scales. 
The  fruit  is  a  small,  bluish  black  drupe,  ripe  in 
the  autumn. 

The  tupelo  at  all  seasons  is  a  striking  tree, 
and  is  easily  distinguished  even  at  a  distance 
by  its  flat,  rigid  branches,  growing  in  horizon- 
tal layers  from  the  main  trunk.  It  varies  much 
in  shape,  according  to  its  surroundings  in  youth. 
When  it  has  grown  up  among  other  trees  in 
the  woods  it  is  erect  and  tall,  and  when  it  has 
stood  by  itself  in  open  ground  it  is  low  and 
broad,  and  almost  always  carries  its  main  trunk 
well  into  the  top  of  the  tree. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  tough,  and  hard  to  work, 
and  the  fibres  intertwine  so  closely  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  split.  It  is  used  in  making 
the  hubs  of  wheels  and  ox  yokes. 

The  generic  name,  Nyssa,  is  the  Greek  name 


TUPELO 

JVyssa  sylvatica 


Page  no 


BUTTONWOOD    AND    MULBERRIES 

of  a  nymph,  and  was  given  to  the  tupelo  on 
account  of  its  habit  of  growing  in  wet  places, 
on  the  borders  of  ponds,  and  in  low,  moist 
woods.  The  specific  name  is  frequently  given 
to  plants  and  trees,  and  comes  from  the  Latin 
word  which  means  belonging  to  the  woods. 

It  is  found  from  Maine  to  Florida  and  west- 
ward, and  stands  the  winds  from  the  sea  well 
when  it  grows  along  the  coast,  apparently 
losing  little  of  its  vigor. 

A    small  tree  or  shrub,   12  to 

Flowering  Cor-  /.,,.,        .  /         ,     /  7 

nel,  Flowering  40  feet  nigh,  with  a  dark,  rough, 

Dogwood        oark.       The   recent    shoots    are 

Cornus  florida  .  .          -.77 

gray  and  covered  with,  down. 
The  leaf-scars  are  small  and  opposite  each  other 
on  the  stem.  The  flower  buds  are  conspicuous. 

The  flowering  cornel  can  be  distinguished 
by  its  flower  buds  alone  in  winter,  if  by  nothing 
else.  They  are  small  and  round  with  long 
curving  tips,  and  in  shape  they  look  something 
like  the  paper  torpedoes  children  play  with  on 
the  Fourth  of  July.  This  is  the. only  native 
tree  in  our  climate,  besides  the  maple  and  ash, 
which  has  opposite  leaf-scars. 

The  confusion  existing  in  some  minds  be- 
tween the  flowering  dogwood  of  the  woods  and 
the  poison  dogwood  of  the  swamps  casts  an 
undeserved  shadow  over  the  name  of  the  former. 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

If  the  poison  dogwood  were  always  called 
poison  sumac  and  the  Cornus  florida,  flowering 
cornel,  this  unfortunate  confusion  would  soon 
end. 

The  wood  is  strong,  hard,  and  close-grained, 
and  takes  polish  exceedingly  well.  It  is  used 
in  turnery,  for  the  handles  of  tools,  and  occa- 
sionally for  engravers'  blocks.  The  bark  is 
bitter  and  is  used  as  an  astringent  and  tonic, 
especially  in  the  treatment  of  fevers.  The 
Indians  made  a  scarlet  dye  from  the  bark  of 
the  roots. 

The  generic  name  comes  from  the  Latin 
cornus,  a  horn,  and  refers  to  the  hardness  of 
the  wood,  and  the  specific  r\zme,Jlorida  (abound- 
ing in  blossoms),  alludes  to  the  remarkable 
white  flowers  of  this  cornel,  which  open  in 
June. 

The  flowering  dogwood  is  found  from  Eastern 
Massachusetts  to  Central  Florida  and  westward, 
and  grows  under  large  trees  in  rich  woods. 

The  Moracce  are  a  small  family  with  but  one 
native  representative  in  the  North,  the  red  mul- 
berry. The  white  mulberry  from  China  has 
been  so  widely  cultivated  and  naturalized  in 
the  United  States,  that  it  is  seen  more  com- 
monly than  the  native  species. 


RED   MULBERRY 
Moras  rubra 


Page  123 


BUTTONWOOD   AND    MULBERRIES 

Red    Mulberry  A  small  tree,  15  to  60  feet  high, 

Morus  rubra  The  bark  is  rough,  with  long 
furrows.  The  twigs  are  a  light  greenish 
brown  and  the  leaf -scars  are  oval,  hollow,  and 
alternate  in  arrangement.  The  bundle-scars 
form  a  closed  chain  around  the  leaf-scar.  A 
milky  juice  comes  if  the  stems  are  cut  on 
warm  days  in  winter.  Very  smooth  buds. 

The  red  mulberry  is  not  particularly  attrac- 
tive in  winter.  In  open  situations  its  branches 
are  wide  spreading  without  being  graceful,  and 
it  is  broadly  erect  in  shape  without  being 
stately.  It  grows  to  be  a  much  larger  tree  in 
the  South  than  it  does  in  the  North. 

The  wood  is  soft  and  light,  but  very  durable, 
and  it  is  used  for  fences  and  cooperage,  and 
in  the  South  for  boat-building.  The  fruit  is 
edible,  with  an  agreeable  acid  flavor. 

The  generic  name,  Morus,  is  probably  derived 
from  the  Celtic  word  mor,  meaning  black,  in 
reference  to  the  color  of  the  fruit.  The  specific 
name,  rubra,  is  given  to  this  species  because 
the  mulberries  are  dark  red  instead  of  white,  like 
those  of  Morus  alba. 

The  red  mulberry  is  found  growing  wild 
in  Western  Massachusetts,  south  to  Florida 
and  westward.  It  is  frequently  planted  in 
gardens  for  its  fruit. 

123 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

White  ^  small  tree,  with  a  rough  bark, 

Mulberry  small,  round  brown  buds,  and 
MO™*  alba  smaii  projecting  alternate  leaf- 
scars  with  clearly  defined  bundle-scars.  The 
buds  are  smaller  and  more  rounded  than  those 
of  the  red  mulberry.  It  is  easily  distinguished 
from  the  red  mulberry  by  its  more  numerous 
and  slender  shoots. 

Professor  Charles  S.  Sargent  says  that  no 
other  tree  furnishes  employment,  directly  and 
indirectly,  to  so  large  a  number  of  the  human 
race,  or  has  been  so  carefully  studied  from  the 
cultural  point  of  view,  and  no  other  tree  has 
given  rise  to  such  a  voluminous  literature  as 
the  white  mulberry. 

It  was  introduced  here  from  China  about 
1830,  and  it  has  been  widely  cultivated  and 
naturalized  throughout  the  United  States.  The 
Chinese  were  the  first  to  cultivate  the  mulberry 
for  feeding  silkworms,  and  they  are  said  to 
have  discovered  the  art  of  making  silk  2700 
years  B.  c.  According  to  Loudon  the  discovery 
is  due  to  the  keen  powers  of  observation  of  the 
Empress  Si-ling-chi,  who  watched  the  labors  of 
silkworms  on  wild  mulberry  trees,  and  who  first 
applied  their  silk  to  use.  It  is  interesting  to 
associate  the  making  of  silk  with  an  empress 
who  loved  nature  and  used  her  eyes  two  thou- 
124 


WHITE   MULBERRY 
Moras   alba 


Page  iz4 


BUTTONWOOD    AND    MULBERRIES 

sand  years  and  more  B.  c.  From  China  the 
art  passed  into  Persia,  India,  Arabia,  and  finally 
(350  B.  c.)into  Greece.  In  1440  A.  D.  the  white 
mulberry  was  introduced  into  upper  Italy,  and 
during  the  reign  of  Charles  VII.  the  first  white 
mulberry  was  planted  in  France.  In  1609  the 
silkworm  was  introduced  into  Great  Britain 
by  James  I.,  and  at  the  same  time  he  sent  over 
mulberry  trees  and  silkworms  to  America,  and 
tried  to  induce  the  colonists  in  Virginia  to 
cultivate  silkworms  instead  of  raising  tobacco. 
The  wood  has  been  used  for  making  wine 
casks  in  Europe,  and  is  highly  valued  on 
account  of  the  supposed  violet  flavor  it  gives 
to  white  wines.  The  bark  is  used  for  making 
bast  for  mats,  and  linen  also  has  been  made 
out  of  it.  The  fruit  of  the  white  mulberry  is 
insipid  and  tasteless. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  LOCUSTS,  THE   YELLOWWOOD, 

AND     THE     KENTUCKY 

COFFEE   TREE 


The  Common  Locust  and  the  Honey  Locust. 


Chapter  X 

THE  LOCUSTS,  THE  YELLOWWOOD,  AND 
THE   KENTUCKY   COFFEE   TREE 

Family  Leguminosae 

THE  Leguminoscz  are  a  large   order  of 
plants  including  many  different  genera, 
—  from  the  little  clover  by  the  wayside 
to  the  honey  locust  trees,  140  feet  high.     The 
trees   of   the    different   genera  are   all    distin- 
guished   by    their   pod-like   fruit,  —  the    name 
Leguminosa   being    given    to    this     family   on 
account  of  the  leguminous  or  bean-like  pods 
which  enclose  the  seeds. 

They  are  interesting  to  study  on  account  of 
the  buds,  which  differ  in  structure  from  the 
hidden  buds  of  the  locusts  enclosed  in  the 
stem,  to  the  subpetiolar  buds  of  the  yellow- 
wood,  concealed  under  the  leafstalks  through 
the  summer,  but  conspicuous  in  winter  after 
they  have  fallen. 

Common         ^n  ^rreSu^ar  growing,  slender 

Locust          tree,    70   to   80  feet  high,  with 

RobMapseudo- Acacia  very     roug^    deeply  furrowed, 

9  129 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

often  yellowish- looking  bark.  Slender  twigs, 
with  inconspicuous  thorns.  Small,  alternate 
triangular  leaf-scars,  somewhat  raised  in  the 
centre.  The  buds  are  superposed  between  the 
thorns,  and  are  entirely  hidden  by  the  leaf-scars. 
Fruit  a  pea-shaped  pod,  four  or  five  inches  long. 

The  common  locust  is  one  of  the  few  trees 
which  is  decidedly  more  attractive  in  summer 
than  in  winter.  The  delicate  texture  and 
tender  green  of  the  leaves  and  the  pendulous 
racemes  of  white  fragrant  flowers  make  the 
whole  beauty  of  this  tree,  and  in  winter  it  seems 
rough,  straggling,  and  uncouth  in  its  habit  of 
growth,  and  utterly  devoid  of  either  strength  or 
grace.  The  common  locust  glories  in  a  wealth 
of  summer  sweetness  and  color,  but  in  winter 
the  absence  of  poise  and  symmetry  in  its 
branches  and  its  colorless  stems  make  it  seem 
shapeless  and  dead. 

The  wood  is  heavy  and  strong,  and  durable 
when  it  is  placed  in  contact  with  the  soil. 
It  is  used  in  ship-building  and  for  posts. 
The  bark  is  a  tonic  used  in  homoeopathic 
remedies. 

The  name,  Robinia,  was  given  to  this  genus 

in  honor  of  Jean  Robin,  a  French  botanist,  and 

the  gardener  of   Henry  IV.  of  France.     The 

specific  name,  Pseudo-Acacia  (false  acacia),  arose 

130 


COMMON   LOCUST  TREES 
Robinia  Pseudo-Acacia 


Page  130 


THE  LOCUSTS    AND   YELLOWWOOD 

from  the  supposition  that  this  tree  was  a  species 
of  the  Egyptian  acacia  from  its  prickly  branches 
and  pinnate  leaves,  which  are  like  those  of  that 
tree.  It  was  called  "  locust  tree  "  by  English 
missionaries  who  collected  it  first  and  fancied 
that  it  was  the  tree  that  nourished  John  the 
Baptist  in  the  wilderness. 

It  was  one  of  the  first  American  trees  to 
attract  attention  in  Europe,  and  it  has  been 
extensively  cultivated  there. 

The  locust  is  not  a  native  of  New  England, 
but  it  grows  wild  south  of  Pennsylvania  and  it 
is  widely  naturalized  throughout  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  clammy  locust  (Robinia  viscosa]  is  a 
small  tree  or  shrub  easily  distinguished  from 
the  common  locust  by  its  stems  and  young 
branches,  which  are  clammy  and  sticky  to  the 
touch.  It  is  a  native  of  the  mountains  of 
North  Carolina,  and  it  has  been  extensively  cul- 
tivated as  far  north  as  Eastern  Massachusetts. 

The  specific  name,  viscosa,  is  from  the  Latin 
adjective  meaning  full  of  birdlime,  sticky,  and 
refers  to  the  peculiar  clamminess  of  the  stems. 

Robinia  hispida,  the  rose  acacia,  is  an  orna- 
mental shrub  cultivated  in  gardens  and  found 
growing  wild  from  Virginia  southward.  The 
specific  name,  hispida  (bristly),  refers  to  the 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

long  bristles  on  the  branches,  leaves,  and  pods 
which  distinguish  this  shrub  from  the  other 
species  of  the  genus. 

Honey  Locust  A  large  tree  with  a  smooth 
GUdUna  Macanthos  dark  bark,  cracking  in  thick 
lateral  plates  on  old  trees.  Long,  branching 
thorns  growing  in  clusters  out  of  the  trunk  and 
on  the  branches.  Smooth,  shining  brown  twigs 
and  prominent  U-shaped,  alternate  leaf-scars. 
There  are  no  terminal  buds,  and  the  lateral  ones 
are  superposed,  inconspicuous,  rounded,  and 
partly  concealed  in  the  stem.  The  fruit  is  a 
large,  pea-like  pod,  often  hanging  on  the  trees 
throiigh  the  winter. 

The  honey  locust  is  a  beautiful  tree  with  a 
large  trunk  and  wide,  loosely  spreading 
branches.  It  is  particularly  interesting  in 
winter  on  account  of  the  apparent  absence  of 
buds  along  the  stems.  But  for  the  rich  brown 
color  of  the  stems  they  might  be  thought  dead 
until  a  cut  with  a  knife  in  the  stem  over  the  leaf- 
scars  shows  the  little  tender  buds  tucked  away 
out  of  sight.  It  is  interesting,  too,  to  find  thorns 
which  are  long  enough  to  have  little  thorns 
branching  from  them.  A  straight  thorn  seems 
formidable  enough  even  on  a  rose  stem,  but  a 
thorn  some  ten  inches  long  with  eight  thorns 
branching  from  it,  each  varying  from  half  an 
132 


ffl 


HONEY  LOCUST 
Gleditsia  triacantkos 


Page  133 


THE    LOCUSTS  AND    YELLOWWOOD 

inch  to  two  inches  long,  and  this  but  one  of  a 
cluster  of  thorns,  keeps  the  trunk  of  the  honey 
locust  sacred  from  climbing  boys  and  from 
browsing  cattle.  The  honey  locust  is  more 
effective  than  a  barbed  wire  for  fencing.  The 
fruit  is  in  the  form  of  a  flat,  crooked  reddish 
.brown  pod  from  seven  to  eighteen  inches 
long.  These  pods  are  often  twisted,  and  are 
carried  easily  by  the  wind  over  the  top  of 
the  snow,  and  young  locusts  are  propagated 
in  this  way  at  a  great  distance  from  the 
parent  tree.  Beer  has  been  made  by  fer- 
menting the  inner  pulp  of  fresh  pods,  but  it 
is  more  of  an  experiment  than  a  customary 
practice. 

The  wood  of  the  honey  locust  is  hard,  strong, 
and  durable  when  it  is  placed  in  contact  with 
the  soil ;  it  is  used  for  posts  and  rails  and  for 
making  the  hubs  of  wheels. 

The  generic  name,  Gleditsia,  was  given  to  it 
in  honor  of  Gleditsch,  a  German  botanist;  and 
the  specific  name,  triacanthos  (three-thorned), 
refers  to  the  branching  thorns. 

The  honey  locust  is  not  native  in  New  Eng- 
land, although  it  is  found  growing  commonly. 
Young  trees  spring  up  from  the  seeds  of  culti- 
vated trees,  and  in  this  way  it  has  spread  and 
increased  its  range.  It  is  found  growing  wild 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

from  Pennsylvania  south  and  west.  There  are 
thornless  varieties  of  this  tree  which  are  often 
cultivated. 

Yellowwood  A  small  tree,  20  to  50  feet  high, 
ciadrastis  lutea  with  a  smooth  dark  gray  bark, 
The  stems  are  smooth  and  brown,  with  light 
colored  conspicuous  leaf-scars  in  a  circle  around 
the  subpetiolar  buds.  The  buds  are  brown  and 
very  hairy,  each  scale  being  covered  with  soft 
brown  hairs.  Pod-like  fruit,  about  two  inches 
long. 

The  clean,  smooth  bark  of  the  yellowwood, 
its  delicate  branches  and  rich  brown  stems 
make  this  tree  attractive  in  winter,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that,  like  the  locust,  its  greatest  beauty 
is  in  its  sweet  pendulous  flowers  and  bright 
green  leaves.  The  yellowwood  is  one  of  the 
few  trees  which  have  subpetiolar  buds,  and  the 
prominent  leaf-scars  encircling  the  bud  show 
that  the  base  of  the  leafstalk  covered  it  until 
the  leaf  fell  off  in  the  autumn. 

The  wood  is  used  for  making  gunstocks  and 
for  fuel,  and  it  also  yields  a  yellow  dye,  from 
which  it  takes  its  specific  name,  lutea,  —  yellow. 
The  generic  name,  Ciadrastis,  comes  from  two 
Greek  words  meaning  brittle  branches,  and 
was  given  to  the  tree  on  account  of  its  fragile 
branches,  which  are  easily  broken  by  the 
134 


KENTUCKY  COFFEE  TREK 

Gymnocladus  dioica 


Page  134 


THE    LOCUSTS    AND    YELLOWWOOD 

wind.  The  yellowwood,  or  virgilia  as  it  is 
sometimes  called,  is  extensively  cultivated  in 
gardens  and  it  is  found  growing  wild  in 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Professor  Sargent 
says  that  it  is  one  of  the  rarest  and  most  local 
trees  of  North  America. 

Kentucky  A  larSe  tree>  5°  ^  8°  feet  high, 
Coffee  Tree  with  rough  bark.  Large  cane- 
Gymnodadus  dioica  ^  smooth,  gray  shoots  some- 
what  roughened  by  prominent  lenticles.  Large 
U-shaped,  alternate  leaf-scars  with  three  or  five 
bundle-scars.  No  terminal  bud,  the  lateral 
buds  are  (two  or  three]  superposed,  they  are 
inconspicuous,  very  silky  to  the  touch,  deep  set 
and  surrounded  by  an  incurved  rim  of  the 
bark.  Large,  wide,  thick  pods,  5  to  10  inches 
long. 

The  Kentucky  coffee  tree  is  entirely  destitute 
of  small  spray,  and  in  winter  its  thick,  cane-like 
stems,  without  any  perceptible  buds,  give  it  a 
singular  appearance  of  rigid  bluntness.  A 
more  striking  contrast  than  the  flat,  fine  sprayed 
branches  of  the  hop  hornbeam  and  the  stout, 
upright  stems  of  the  Kentucky  coffee  tree 
could  not  be  imagined.  The  early  settlers  in 
Kentucky  made  a  drink  from  the  seeds  of  this 
tree,  which  they  considered  equal  to  coffee,  but 
later  when  communication  with  the  seaport 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

towns  was  established  they  gave  up  this  drink 
for  real  coffee,  and  the  seeds  have  never  been 
used  since  for  that  purpose,  although  the  tree 
has  retained  its  name. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  but  not  very  strong.  It 
is  occasionally  used  in  cabinet  making  and  for 
posts  and  rails. 

The  generic  name  comes  from  two  Greek 
words  meaning  naked  branch,  and  has  reference 
to  the  stout  branches  without  spray ;  and  the 
specific  name  comes  from  two  Greek  words 
meaning  of  two  households,  and  refers  to  the 
male  and  female  flowers  which  are  found  on 
separate  trees.  The  Kentucky  coffee  tree  is 
found  growing  wild  from  New  York  southward 
and  westward,  and  it  is  occasionally  cultivated 
in  gardens  and  parks. 

There  are  one  or  two  other  trees  belonging 
to  this  family  which  are  found  planted  in 
gardens.  Of  these  the  laburnum  (Laburnum 
vulgare],  a  small  tree  10  to  20  feet  high,  is 
perhaps  the  most  familiar.  It  came  originally 
from  Switzerland,  and  has  been  cultivated  in 
our  gardens  for  its  beautiful  yellow  flowers, 
"  rich  in  streaming  gold."  Another  member  of 
the  family  cultivated  for  its  flowers  and  found 
wild  from  New  York  south  and  west  is  the  red- 
bud  or  Judas  tree  (Cercis  canadensis}.  It  is  a 
136 


THE   LOCUSTS   AND    YELLOWWOOD 

small  tree  with  no  terminal  buds,  and  with 
spreading,  oval  flower  buds  along  the  stems, 
which  open  before  the  leaf  buds  in  the 
spring,  and  cover  the  branches  with  deep- 
pink  flowers. 


CHAPTER   XT 

THE      LINDENS,      THE       LIQUID- 
AMBER,  AND   THE   SASSAFRAS 


1.     The  Linden.         2.     The  Liquidamber. 


The  Sassafras. 


Chapter   XI 

THE   LINDENS,  THE   LIQUIDAMBER,  AND 
THE   SASSAFRAS 

Families  Tiliaceae,  Hamamelidaceae,  and  Lauraceae 

THE   Tiliacea  are  a  tropical  family  with 
a  single  genus,  the  linden,  as  a  repre- 
sentative in  our  climate.      There  are 
two  species   found  wild    south  of    New   York 
besides  the  common  linden,  the   small  leaved 
basswood   and   the   white    basswood,   but   the 
common  linden  and  the  European  linden  are 
the  two  trees  found  commonly  in  New  England. 

Linden;  Bass-  A   tal1  iree>  6°  *°   8°  feet   hi^ 
wood         frequently  excurrent.     The  bark 

Tilia  americana      ^     ra^er    SmOOth     with      shallow, 

close  furrows,  and  the  twigs  are  smooth,  with 
a  good  deal  of  color.  The  leaf-scars  are  alter- 
nate, and  the  buds  are  smooth  and  red,  the  ter- 
minal one  often  being  absent. 

The   main   trunk  of   the   linden  frequently 
extends  upwards  undivided  through  the  crown 
to  the  tip  of  the  tree,  with  small  branches  grow- 
141 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

ing  from  the  trunk  all  the  way  up.  This  ex- 
current  characteristic  of  the  linden  is  especially 
marked  in  young  trees  which  have  grown  in 
open  situations,  but  even  when  the  trunk  has 
divided  into  large  branches,  or  has  grown  in 
the  forest  shaded  by  other  trees,  and  has  lost 
its  excurrent  shape,  the  small  branches  growing 
directly  out  of  the  trunk  distinguish  it  from 
other  trees.  The  color  in  the  young  stems 
and  buds  is  another  means  of  its  identification, 
and  in  early  spring  the  deepening  color  in  the 
twigs  from  the  rising  sap,  shows  that  the  linden 
is  almost  as  responsive  as  the  willow  to  warm 
rains  and  sunshine. 

The  wood  is  soft  and  white  and  close-grained. 
It  is  used  for  carving  in  the  interior  finish  of 
houses,  and  for  making  wooden  ware  and  cheap 
furniture.  Sugar  has  been  made  from  the  sap, 
and  the  inner  bark  is  made  into  a  coarse 
cordage  and  matting,  and  in  Europe  a  coarse 
cloth  is  made  from  it. 

The  Latin  generic  name  probably  comes 
from  ptilon,  the  Greek  word  for  a  feather,  in 
allusion  to  the  feather-like  bracts  on  the  clus- 
ters of  the  flowers.  The  specific  name,  amcri- 
cana,  was  given  to  our  native  linden  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  European  species. 

The  linden   is  found  growing  wild   in  rich 
142 


AMERICAN  LINDEN 
7*iVia   americana 


Page  143 


THE    LINDENS  AND    LIQUIDAMBER 

woods  from  New  Brunswick  to  Georgia  and  as 
far  west  as  Kansas. 

The  European  lindens,  or  as  they  are  called 
in  England  "  lime  trees,"  may  be  distinguished 
from  our  linden  by  their  twigs,  which  are  more 
numerous  and  more  slender  than  those  of  our 
species.  The  linden  has  long  been  a  favorite 
tree  for  formal  effects,  both  in  Europe  and  in 
this  country.  "  The  French,"  Du  Hamel  says, 
"  growing  tired  of  the  horsechestnut  for 
avenues,  adopted  the  lime  for  that  purpose,  in 
the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  accordingly  the 
approaches  to  the  residences  of  the  French, 
as  well  as  the  English  gentry  of  that  date  are 
bordered  with  lime  trees."  Since  the  day  of 
the  modern  school  of  landscape  gardening  the 
linden  is  not  nearly  so  much  planted  as  it 
used  to  be. 

A  successful  experiment  has  been  tried  in 
Germany  of  making  table  oil  from  the  seeds 
of  this  tree.  A  paste  like  chocolate  has  also 
been  made  from  the  fruit,  but  it  does  not  keep. 
The  family  name  of  Linnaeus,  the  famous 
botanist,  was  originally  derived  from  linn,  the 
Swedish  name  for  the  linden,  a  large  tree 
having  always  stood  by  the  old  family  home- 
stead. 

The  European  lindens  are  not  so  well  suited 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

to  our  climate  as  our  native  basswood,  but  it 
seems  to  be  more  generally  planted  in  our  city 
streets,  in  spite  of  this  fact. 

The  Hamamelis  family  is  a  small  order  of 
trees  and  shrubs  with  two  genera  in  the  United 
States,  —  the  Hamamelis  and  Liquidambar  ; 
each  genus  has  but  one  species. 

A    large   tree,    30   to    150   feet 

S^eet  'Sum  '    high*  with  deePly  farrowed  bark. 


mbar  styra-  The  twigs  are  covered  with  corky 
ridges.  The  leaf-scars  are  alter- 
nate. The  buds  are  reddish  in  color  and  smooth. 
The  pith  is  in  the  form  of  a  pentagon  when  the 
twig  is  cut  across.  The  fruit  is  a  round,  dry, 
open,  rough  catkin  hanging  on  the  tree  through 
the  winter. 

The  liquidamber  is  at  all  times  beautiful, 
and  in  winter  the  broad,  corky  wings  along 
the  twigs  give  it  a  singular  appearance,  adding 
much  to  one's  interest  in  the  tree.  It  is 
unusual  to  find  so  much  color  in  corky  ridged 
stems  as  in  those  of  the  liquidamber.  The 
stems  of  the  cork  elm  and  the  mossy  cup  oak 
have  these  peculiar  corky  layers,  but  neither 
of  them  have  smooth,  polished  stems  between 
the  broken  ridges,  nor  such  radiant  color  as 

those   of    the    liquidamber.     When    this    tree 
144 


L1QUIDAMBER 

Liquidambar  Styracifluc, 


Page  144 


THE    LINDENS   AND    LIQUIDAMBER 

grows  in  open  situations  its  trunk  divides  a 
short  distance  from  the  ground,  and  the  branches 
form  a  pyramidal  head.  In  moist  Southern 
forests,  however,  where  the  liquidamber  grows 
to  be  very  tall,  its  trunk  is  straight,  a  uniform 
size  in  diameter,  and  often  undivided  into 
branches  to  the  height  of  seventy  or  eighty 
feet.  Michaux  describes  a  liquidamber  which 
he  found  growing  in  a  swamp  in  Georgia, 
which  measured  fifteen  feet  and  seven  inches 
in  circumference  at  five  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  these  trees  sometimes  grow  to  be  over 
1 50  feet  high  when  the  conditions  are  favorable 
to  their  growth. 

The  wood  is  heavy  and  close-grained  and  is 
used  in  cabinet  making,  for  fruit  boxes,  and 
for  the  outside  finish  of  houses.  Professor 
Sargent  says  that  the  future  supply  of  the 
wood  is  reasonably  certain  from  the  fact  that 
the  real  home  of  this  tree  in  those  parts  of  the 
country  where  it  attains  its  greatest  develop- 
ment is  in  deep  swamps,  always  inundated 
every  year  during  several  weeks  at  a  time,  and 
incapable  of  being  drained  and  cultivated. 
The  generic  name,  Liquidambar,  from  liquidus 
(liquid),  ambar  (amber),  was  given  to  this  tree 
by  Linnaeus  in  reference  to  the  fragrant  juice 
which  exudes  from  its  stems.  It  is  sometimes 

10  145 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

collected  and  used  as  an  ointment  in  medicine. 
The  flow  of  resinous  balsam  increases  accord 
ing  to  the  warmth  of  the  climate  in  which 
the  liquidamber  is  found.  The  specific  name, 
Styraciflua,  from  the  Latin  word  styrax(stoYax), 
also  alludes  to  this  juice,  storax  being  a  res- 
inous gum. 

The  liquidamber  is  found  growing  in  Fair- 
field  County,  Connecticut,  and  from  there  south- 
ward to  Florida  and  westward.  It  grows  well 
in  gardens  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston ;  but 
it  is  liable  to  suffer  after  severe  winters  through- 
out Eastern  New  England. 

The  witch-hazel  (Hamamelis  virginiand)  is 
a  small  tree  or  shrub,  10  to  30  feet  high,  with  a 
smooth  brown  bark  and  flat  branches,  covered 
through  the  winter  with  woody  fruit  capsules. 
It  is  found  on  the  borders  of  moist  woods 
throughout  New  England  and  its  profusion 
of  yellow  thread-like  flowers  in  the  bare  Novem- 
ber woods  make  it  a  striking  object  in  autumn. 
The  combination  on  a  single  tree,  at  the  same 
time,  of  blossoms  and  ripe  fruit  is  unusual  in 
any  climate,  and  the  witch-hazel  is  the  only 
example  of  it  in  the  Northeastern  States. 
Linnaeus  gave  it  the  Greek  name  hamamelis, 
which  means  bearing  flowers  together  with 
the  fruit. 

146 


SASSAFRAS 
Sassafras  variifolium 


Page  146 


THE    LINDENS    AND    LIQUIDAMBER 

The  Indians  were  the  first  to  use  the  bark 
for  curing  inflammations,  and  its  medicinal 
virtues  have  long  been  recognized,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  chemists  consider  that  it  has  no 
active  medicinal  properties.  On  the  slopes  of 
some  of  the  southern  mountains  the  witch-hazel 
becomes  a  small  tree,  although  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  find  it  a  rather  straggling  shrub  in 
our  New  England  woods. 

The  Lauracea  are  an  order  of  aromatic  trees 
and  shrubs  found  chiefly  in  the  tropics;  of 
trees  there  is  a  single  genus  of  a  single  species 
found  in  New  England,  —  the  sassafras. 

Sassafras        ^   ^ree   c°Wmon  in  rich  woods. 

Sassafras  variifolium    It  is    15   to   IOO  feet  high,    With   a 

rough  bark  and  twisted  brandies.  Green  twigs, 
smooth  and  sweet  scented,  with  an  aromatic 
mucilaginous  juice.  Large  buds;  semi-oval, 
semicircular,  alternate  leaf-scars.  The  flowers 
come  a  little  before  the  leaves  unfold.  The 
aromatic  fragrance  is  strongest  in  the  bark 
of  the  roots. 

Few  trees  are  more  interesting  in  winter 
than  the  sassafras.  The  color  of  their  smooth, 
bare  stems  is  an  exquisite  shade  of  green,  the 
terminal  buds  are  large  for  the  size  of  the 
slender  twigs  and  tiny  leaf-scars,  and  the  deli- 
147 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

cious,  aromatic  taste  and  fragrance  when  the 
twigs  are  broken  are  most  unusual.  The 
branches  often  have  a  curious  spirally  twisted 
appearance,  a  corkscrew  effect,  which  with  the 
rough  bark  of  the  trunk  give  the  tree  an 
ancient  weather-beaten  aspect  when  it  is  com- 
paratively young.  The  sassafras  was  one  of  the 
first  American  trees  which  became  known  in 
Europe.  In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century 
the  French  in  Florida  were  told  by  the  Indians 
about  its  curative  properties,  and  from  that  time 
it  was  sought  after,  —  sassafras  roots  having 
formed  a  part  of  the  first  cargo  exported  from 
Massachusetts.  J.  C.  Loudon,  an  English 
writer  on  trees  sixty  years  ago,  had  an  original 
theory,  that  the  discovery  of  America  was 
largely  due  to  the  sassafras.  "It  was  its 
strong  fragrance  smelt  by  Columbus,"  he  says, 
in  the  third  volume  of  his  "  Arboretum,"  "  that 
encouraged  him  to  persevere  when  his  crew 
mutinied,  and  enabled  him  to  convince  them 
that  land  was  near  at  hand." 

Thoreau  in  his  walks  through  the  winter 
woods  about  Concord  in  February  says :  "  When 
I  break  off  a  twig  of  green-barked  sassafras, 
as  I  am  going  through  the  woods  now,  and 
smell  it,  I  am  startled  to  find  it  as  fragrant  as 
in  summer.  It  is  an  importation  of  all  the 
148 


TRUNK   OF  A   SASSAFRAS 


Page  148 


THE    LINDENS    AND    LIQUIDAMBER 

spices  of  Oriental  summers  into  our  New  Eng- 
land winter,  very  foreign  to  the  snow  and  the 
oak  leaves."  This  Oriental  spiciness  may  be 
partly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  our 
sassafras  is  related  to  the  camphor  and  cin- 
namon trees  of  the  tropics. 

The  wood  is  soft  and  brittle,  but  it  has 
durability  when  placed  in  contact  with  the  soil, 
which  makes  it  useful  for  posts  and  rails.  It 
is  also  used  for  ox  yokes  and  cooperage. 
Oil  of  sassafras,  which  is  distilled  from  the  bark 
of  the  roots,  is  used  for  perfuming  soap.  This 
tree  is  confined  to  eastern  North  America,  and 
deserves  far  more  attention  than  has  been  given 
it  by  landscape  gardeners,  —  it  is  a  beautiful 
tree  as  well  as  an  individual  one. 

Sassafras  was  a  popular  name  used  by  the 
French  in  Florida,  and  it  was  once  both  its 
generic  and  specific  name. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE  MAGNOLIA  AND  TULIP  TREE, 
THE  CATALPA,  THE  AILAN- 
THUS,  AND  THE  ARALIA 


The  Magnolia  and  the  Tulip-tree. 


Chapter  XII 

THE   MAGNOLIA   AND    TULIP  TREE,   THE   CA- 
TALPA,  THE  AILANTHUS,  AND  THE  ARALIA 

Families      Magnoliaceae,     Bignoniaceae,     Simaroubaceae,    and 
Araliaceae 

THE  magnolia  family  is  made  up  of  trees 
and   shrubs  belonging  mainly  to   the 
tropics,  but  it  has  two  genera  in  the 
Northeastern  States, —  the  magnolia  and  the 
tulip  tree.     They  are  particularly  interesting  in 
winter    on    account   of    the    buds   which    are 
covered  with    stipules  forming  bud-scales  and 
which  protect  the  undeveloped  leaves  until  they 
•  open  in  the  spring. 

There  are  six  species  of  magnolia  in  the  United 
States,  but  only  one  is  found  growing  wild  in  New 
England.  The  tulip  tree  is  the  only  species  in 
the  genus  Liriodendron  and  it  is  found  only  in 
eastern  North  America  and  western  China. 

A  shrub  or  slender  tree,  4  to  $ofeet 

nolfa^Sweet  high^  with  light  brown  bark.     The 

Bay          recent  shoots  area  bright  green,  and 

Magnolia  virginiana  ^  ^   ^^  ^  ^^ 

towards  downiness.     Alternate  leaf -scars 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

This  magnolia  is  found  growing  more  or  less 
commonly  in  swamps  from  New  Jersey  to 
Florida,  but  it  is  rare  in  the  north.  Over  a 
hundred  years  ago  it  was  discovered  growing 
wild  in  Essex  County,  Massachusetts,  by  a 
minister  of  Ipswich,  the  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler, 
and  it  is  still  found  in  the  swamps  near 
Gloucester.  It  is  a  low  shrub  in  the  north, 
but  in  the  south  it  grows  to  be  a  slender  tree. 
The  wood  which  is  soft  and  light  is  occasionally 
used  in  the  south  for  making  broom  handles. 
The  roots  of  the  swamp  magnolia  are  very 
fleshy,  and  they  used  to  be  eaten  by  beavers. 
The  early  settlers  in  Pennsylvania  called  it  the 
"  beaver  tree "  and  baited  their  traps  to  catch 
beavers  with  pieces  of  the  roots. 

The  name  was  given  to  the  genus  in  honor 
of  Pierre  Magnol,  a  professor  of  botany  at 
Montpellier  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
former  name,  glauca  (glaucous)  referred  to  the 
bloom  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaves. 

The  umbrella  tree  (Magnolia  tripetala)  is 
found  much  more  commonly  in  parks  and 
gardens  than  our  native  swamp  magnolia,  and 
it  seems  a  better  representative  of  the  genus  for 
illustration.  In  the  south  it  grows  to  be  thirty 
or  forty  feet  high.  The  bark  is  light  gray  in 
color  and  covered  with  small,  blister-like  ex- 


THE   MAGNOLIA  AND   TULIP  TREE 

crescences.  The  branches  are  stout,  and  green 
in  color  turning  to  brown.  The  buds  are  large 
and  smooth  and  covered  with  a  purplish, 
glaucous  bloom,  and  the  leaf-scars  are  clearly 
defined.  This  magnolia  grows  in  deep,  rich 
moist  soil,  and  is  nowhere  common.  It  is 
more  frequently  cultivated  than  any  of  the  other 
species. 

The  name,  tripetala,  was  given  to  it  by 
Linnaeus,  and  refers  to  the  three  conspicu- 
ous sepals  of  the  flowers.  The  English  name 
alludes  to  the  spreading  umbrella-like  arrange- 
ment of  the  leaves. 

The  cucumber  tree  (Magnolia  acuminata\  a 
large  tree  50  to  90  feet  high,  grows  wild  in 
western  New  York  and  southward,  and  is 
often  cultivated.  Its  leaf  buds  are  silky.  The 
specific  name  refers  to  the  pointed  apex 
of  the  leaves. 

Tulip  Tree      A  very  large  tree'  8o  to  I5°  fee* 

Liriodendron  Tuiipi-   high.       The  bark   is   dark   and 

smooth,  with  small  shallow  fur- 
rows. The  twigs  are  light  purplish  brown,  with 
a  grayish  bloom,  and  the  leaf-scars  are  oval  and 
alternate  in  arrangement.  The  terminal  bud  is 
covered  by  two  stipules.  There  are  stipule-scars  on 
the  stems.  The  fruit  is  a  pointed,  open,  dry  cone, 
often  remaining  on  the  trees  through  the  winter. 
'55 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

The  tulip  tree  is  one  of  the  largest  and 
tallest  trees  in  our  American  forests.  It  has 
long  been  admired  for  its  beauty  in  the  summer, 
and  a  study  of  its  winter  buds  and  stems  dis- 
closes the  fact  that  it  is  equally  interesting  and 
beautiful  when  its  foliage  has  gone.  The  buds 
are  peculiar  in  structure.  Each  leaf  within  the 
bud  is  protected  by  a  pair  of  stipules,  and  in 
the  spring,  when  the  buds  open,  a  leaf  slowly 
uncurls  from  its  two  folded  stipule  coverings 
and  another  bud  is  seen  beneath,  wrapped  in 
stipules.  This  bud  unfolds  and  in  its  turn 
discloses  another.  The  process  is  as  fascinating 
to  watch  as  the  opening  of  Indian  boxes  one 
within  another.  This  characteristic  of  the 
tulip  tree  in  protecting  its  young  leaves  makes 
one  associate  a  very  human,  maternal  instinct 
with  the  tree  ;  it  seems  of  all  others  the  most 
careful  in  protecting  its  young  growth.  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  in  his  work  on  "  Buds  and 
Stipules,"  explains  that  the  peculiar  squared 
end  of  the  tulip  tree's  leaf  is  caused  by  the 
singular  way  it  is  folded  in  the  bud. 

"  I  long  wondered,"  he  says,  "  what  could  be 
the  purpose  or  the  advantage  to  the  tree  of  this 
remarkable  shape.  One  idea  which  occurred 
to  me  was  that  the  difference  of  form  might 
enable  insects  to  perceive  the  tree  at  some  dis- 
156 


TULIP  TREE 

Liriodendron  Tulipifera 


Page  156 


THE    MAGNOLIA  AND    TULIP   TREE 

tance,  just  as  the  colors  of  flowers  are  an  ad- 
vantage in  rendering  them  more  conspicuous. 
I  then  looked  closely  to  see  whether  the  pecu- 
liar forms  could  in  any  way  be  explained  by  the 
position  of  the  leaves  on  the  tree.  I  believe, 
however,  that  the  cause  is  of  a  different  nature, 
and  has  reference  to  the  peculiar  character  of 
the  bud.  Each  young  leaf  is,  as  in  the  family 
Magnoliacece  generally,  originally  enclosed  in 
and  sheltered  by  the  stipules  of  its  predecessor. 
These  are  in  Liriodendron  oval  or  in  form 
resembling  a  shallow  dish  or  spoon,  so  that 
when  placed  face  to  face  they  form  a  hollow 
almond-shaped  box.  Inside  this  lies  the  next 
younger  pair  of  stipules ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
space  is  occupied  by  the  young  leaf,  which  is 
conduplicate  or  folded  on  itself  down  the 
middle,  like  a  sheet  of  note  paper,  and  also 
turned  back  towards  the  base  of  the  bud.  This 
unusual  position  is  probably  due  to  the  early 
development  of  the  petiole.  It  seems  obvious 
that  the  peculiar  form  of  the  leaf  is  due  to  the 
form  and  arrangement  of  the  bud." 

The  wood,  which  is  known  as  whitewood 
and  yellow  poplar,  is  very  valuable.  It  is  light 
and  easily  worked,  and  is  much  used  for  furni- 
ture and  in  the  interior  finish  of  houses.  The 
bark  of  the  wood  and  branches  is  pungent,  bit- 
157 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

ter,  and  aromatic,  and  acts  on  the  system  as  a 
tonic.  According  to  Bigelow's  "  Medical  Bot- 
any "  it  has  been  used  in  the  treatment  of 
chronic  rheumatism  and  in  intermittent  fever. 

The  generic  name  comes  from  two  Greek 
words  meaning  tulip  tree,  and  alludes  to  the 
tulip-like  flowers ;  the  specific  name  also  refers 
to  the  flowers,  and  means  tulip  bearing. 

The  tulip  tree  is  found  growing  wild  in 
Rhode  Island  and  Vermont,  south  to  Florida, 
and  westward.  It  is  planted  commonly  through- 
out New  England.  This  tree  was  found  growing 
in  Western  China  in  1875,  and  in  1889  speci- 
mens were  sent  to  England  and  it  was  found  to 
be  identical  with  the  American  species. 

The  family  Bignoniacece  (named  for  the  Abbe 
Bignon)  is  an  order  of  woody  plants  found 
abundantly  in  South  America.  It  has  a  single 
representative  genus  cultivated  in  the  North- 
ern States  and  found  wild  in  the  South,  —  the 
catalpa.  There  are  two  species,  the  common 
catalpa  and  the  hardy  catalpa,  the  latter  being 
the  most  desirable  for  planting. 

Hardy  Catalpa;     A  tal1  tree^  6o  *°  8o  feet  hi£k* 

Indian    Bean       with  a  thick,  slightly  furrowed 

catalpa  spedosa        6ark      Smooth,    gray,     coarse, 

stiff  twigs.     Oval  leaf-scars  arranged  in  whorls 

158 


CATALPA 

Catalpa  specie 


Page  158 


THE    MAGNOLIA  AND    TULIP   TREE 

of  three  on  the  stem,  or  opposite  each  other. 
The  buds  are  short  and  inconspicuous,  with  loose 
scales.  The  fruit  is  in  long  pods,  hanging  on 
the  tree  till  spring. 

The  catalpa  is  an  attractive  tree  in  winter 
on  account  of  the  long  slender  pods  which 
hang  from  the  tips  of  the  branches,  and  give 
the  stout  stems  a  light  effect  otherwise  lacking, 
for  taken  alone  they  are  coarse  and  bluntly 
moulded  and  very  rigid.  The  name  catalpa 
comes  from  an  Indian  word  meaning  winged 
head ;  and  as  the  catalpa  has  dense,  heavy 
foliage  in  summer  and  suggests  solidity  rather 
than  the  light  effect  "  winged  "  conveys  to  one's 
mind,  it  is  just  possible  that  the  Indians  referred 
to  its  winter  aspect  when  they  gave  it  the 
name.  The  buds  open  very  late  in  the  spring, 
giving  the  tree  a  lifeless  appearance  long  after 
other  trees  are  green. 

The  value  of  the  catalpa  as  a  timber  tree  is 
fast  becoming  recognized.  It  grows  rapidly, 
with  an  average  increase  of  an  inch  a  year  in 
the  diameter  of  the  trunk,  and  the  wood  is  very 
durable  in  contact  with  the  soil;  when  used 
for  railroad  ties  it  has  been  known  to  remain 
sound  for  over  twenty  years.  Its  practical 
value  is  shown  by  the  experience  of  an  Illinois 
farmer  who  planted  five  hundred  acres  of  these 
'59 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

trees,  and  after  eight  years'  growth  thirteen 
thousand  posts  were  cut  and  sold  for  thirteen 
hundred  dollars,  and  the  remaining  trees  were 
improved  rather  than  harmed  by  this  thinning 
out. 

The  Latin  name,  speciosa  (well-formed),  refers 
to  the  beautiful  flowers  of  this  tree.  The 
catalpa  grows  wild  in  the  Middle  West,  and  is 
cultivated  commonly  in  parks  and  gardens  in 
the  Northeastern  States. 

The  Simaroubacece  family  is  a  small  order 
of  trees  and  shrubs  found  in  the  South,  with 
one  genus  in  the  North,  a  cultivated  and  widely 
naturalized  tree,  —  the  ailanthus  from  China. 

Ailanthus;  A  Iar8e  iree>  with  &«?  bark' 
Tree  of  Very  large,  coarse  twigs  with 
Heaven  brown  pith.  Larpe  alternate  leaf- 

Ailanthus  glandulosa  *  e>  J 

scars,  V-shaped,  or  heart-shaped, 
with  numerous  bundle-scars.  The  buds  are 
small,  round,  and  inconspicuous,  and  covered 
with  two  scales.  The  terminal  buds  are  lacking. 
The  fruit  is  winged,  like  that  of  the  ash,  but  its 
seed  is  in  the  centre.  The  dry  clusters  of  fruit 
hang  on  some  trees  through  the  winter. 

The  ailanthus,  like  the  Kentucky  coffee  tree, 
is  destitute  of  small  spray  among  its  branches, 
but  it  would  never  be  confused  with  that  tree 

J<?0 


AILANTHUS 

Ailantkus  gtandulosa 


Page  :6o 


THE    MAGNOLIA  AND   TULIP   TREE 

on  account  of  its  smooth  bark,  which  is  a  great 
contrast  to  the  roughly  ridged  bark  of  the  Ken- 
tucky coffee  tree.  Its  stems  are  smooth  and 
thick,  and  the  large  leaf-scars  are  much  more 
prominent  than  the  buds.  Its  large,  pinnate 
leaves,  often  over  four  feet  long,  make  the 
ailanthus  decorative  in  summer,  but  its  coarse 
stems  in  winter  diminish  its  aesthetic  value  in 
landscape  gardening.  It  grows  very  fast  at 
first,  its  leading  stems  sometimes  reaching  over 
six  feet  in  a  single  season ;  but  after  ten  or 
twelve  years  this  rate  decreases  and  it  advances 
with  moderate  growth. 

In  America  it  is  planted  only  as  an  orna- 
mental tree,  but  its  wood  is  fine-grained,  hard, 
and  takes  a  good  polish,  and  is  well  fitted  for 
cabinet  making. 

The  generic  name  was  originally  spelled 
ailantus,  and  came  from  ailanto  (tree  of  heaven), 
the  name  of  this  tree  in  the  Moluccas ;  its 
name  was  undoubtedly  given  to  it  on  account 
of  the  rapidity  of  its  growth  and  the  great 
height  it  reaches  in  its  native  country.  The 
specific  name,  glandulosa  (glandulous),  refers  to 
the  margins  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaves. 

The  ailanthus  originally  came  from  China, 
but  it  has  become  naturalized  here,  and  is 
planted  very  commonly  in  city  streets,  along 

ii  161 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

country  roads,  and  in  parks  and  gardens.  It 
was  first  brought  to  the  United  States  by  Mr. 
William  Hamilton  in  1784. 

The  family  Araliacecz,  well  known  by  its 
herb  members,  the  ginseng  and  wild  sarsapa- 
rilla,  has  one  tree-like  representative,  —  the 
aralia. 

Angelica  Tree;  A  skrub  or  low  tree^  8  to  3° '/«' 
Hercules'  Club  high.  Coarse,  stout  stems,  cov- 

Araliaspinosa  ^    ^^     fa^    p^^^         7^ 

alternate  leaf -scars  are  narrow  and  project  from 
the  stem  and  almost  encircle  it.  The  bundle-scars 
are  near  together  and  conspicuous.  The  buds 
are  covered  with  loose  scales  and  are  small  for 
the  size  of  the  stems.  The  white  pith  in  the 
stems  is  conspicuous  when  they  are  cut. 

Among  all  trees  and  shrubs  the  aralia  is 
unique  in  winter.  Its  stout,  club-like  stems, 
thickly  beset  with  prickles,  are  so  large  they 
never  fail  to  attract  attention,  and  whatever 
lack  of  beauty  there  may  be  is  overlooked 
owing  to  their  grotesque  aspect.  In  our  North- 
ern gardens  it  is  only  a  shrub,  but  it  invariably 
arouses  curiosity  and  seems  to  compel  atten- 
tion more  than  trees  three  times  its  size. 

The  bark  of  the  root  and  the  berries  are  oc- 
casionally used  in  medicine  as  a  stimulant. 
162 


HERCULES'  CLUB 
Aralia  spinosa 


Page  162 


THE    MAGNOLIA  AND   TULIP   TREE 

The  meaning  of  the  generic  name  is  un- 
known. The  specific  name,  spinosa,  is  the 
Latin  word  meaning  prickly,  and  alludes  to 
the  stems. 

Southward  from  Pennsylvania  this  curious, 
ungainly  tree  is  found  growing  wild,  and  as  it 
is  hardy  in  the  North  it  is  frequently  cultivated 
in  gardens.  It  is  seen  at  its  best  in  the  rich 
soil  of  the  Big  Smoky  Mountains  of  Tennes- 
see. There  it  grows  to  be  thirty  or  thirty-five 
feet  high,  with  wide-spreading  branches  and  a 
true  arborescent  habit. 


'63 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  APPLE  TREE,  PEAR  TREE, 
MOUNTAIN  ASH,  CHERRY  TREE, 
AND  THE  SHAD  BUSH 


MOUNTAIN   ASH 
Pyrus   americana 


Page  170 


Chapter   XIII 

THE  APPLE  TREE,  PEAR  TREE,  MOUN- 
TAIN ASH,  CHERRY  TREE,  AND  THE 
SHAD  BUSH. 

Family  Rosaceae 

THE  rose  family  is  a  very  large  order  of 
trees,  shrubs,  and  herbs  belonging  to 
temperate  climates.  There  are  nu- 
merous genera,  including  valuable  fruit  and 
ornamental  trees  which  have  been  cultivated 
since  the  earliest  times.  Many  of  the  species 
are  so  familiar  that  they  scarcely  need  descrip- 
tion in  summer,  but  in  winter  the  character  of 
their  buds  and  stems  is  less  easily  recognized, 
and  unless  the  trees  are  well  grown  it  is  some- 
times difficult  to  identify  them. 

Common      A.  flat~toPPed  *™>  2O   to  4O  feet 

Apple  Tree    high.      The  bark  of  the  tree  scales 

pyrus  Maius      Off  fa  sma%  jfoHj  brittle  plates. 

The  buds  and  the  stems  are  small  and  somewhat 
woolly.  The  leaf-scars  are  alternate  and  incon- 
spicuous, with  three  bundle-scars. 

167 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

The  low,  flat-topped,  broad-headed  shape  of 
the  apple  tree  is  so  characteristic  that  it  may 
be  easily  recognized  in  winter,  even  when  there 
is  no  surrounding  orchard  to  identify  it.  So 
strong  in  one's  mind  is  the  association  of 
blossoms  with  these  trees,  that  even  a  bare 
old  apple  tree  against  a  winter  sky  suggests 
the  spring,  —  an  apple  tree  always  seems  to  be 
haunted  by  the  ghosts  of  its  pink  blossoms. 
The  literary  history  of  this  tree  goes  back  to 
the  mythologies  of  the  Greeks,  the  Scandina- 
vians, and  the  Druids,  and  it  also  figures 
prominently  in  early  Christian  as  well  as  pagan 
legends.  It  has  been  cultivated  for  its  fruit 
since  prehistoric  times,  and  there  are  hundreds 
of  varieties  of  it  in  cultivation. 

The  wood  is  fine-grained,  hard,  and  a  rich 
reddish  brown  color.  It  is  used  for  small  pur- 
poses in  turnery.  The  fruit,  however,  is  the 
most  valuable  product  of  the  tree,  and  cider 
has  been  made  from  it  for  hundreds  of  years. 
Its  native  country  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  probably 
indigenous  to  the  Northwestern  Himalayas  and 
the  forests  along  the  Black  Sea.  It  was  in- 
troduced into  Britain  by  the  Romans,  and  it  is 
widely  naturalized  in  the  United  States. 

The  generic  name,  Pyrus,  is  the  ancient 
classical  name  for  the  pear  tree,  and  probably 
1 68 


THE   APPLE   AND    PEAR   TREES 

was  originally  taken  from  the  Celtic  wordfleren, 
from    which    the    English    word    was    derived. 
The  specific  name,  Malus,  is  the  ancient  clas- 
sical name  for  the  apple  tree. 
Common  Pear    A  Pyramidal  tree,  30  to  7o  feet    ' 

Tree  high.      The  bark  zs  smooth,  and 

Pyrus  communis  ^e  oranches  incline  to  be  thorny, 
especially  when  the  tree  has  escaped  cultivation. 
Smooth  stems  and  small  pointed  buds.  Alter- 
nate inconspicuous  leaf-scars,  with  three  bundle- 
scars. 

As  distinctive  in  shape  as  the  apple  tree,  but 
in  striking  contrast  to  it,  the  erect  pyramidal 
head  of  the  pear  tree  is  easily  recognized  in 
winter,  and  its  small,  pointed  buds  and  smooth 
stems  offer  other  points  of  difference.  Like 
the  apple  tree,  the  pear  tree  has  been  in  cultiva- 
tion for  hundreds  of  years  and  there  are  innu- 
merable varieties.  It  seems  incongruous  that 
so  small  a  tree  should  live  to  a  great  age,  but 
Bosc  alludes  to  pear  trees  more  than  four 
hundred  years  old,  and  Knight  tells  of  several 
which  date  back  to  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  wood  is  heavy  and  compact,  and  is  used 
in  Europe  by  wood  engravers  and  turners.  A 
drink  called  perry  is  made  from  pears  in  much 
the  same  way  that  cider  is  made  from  apples. 
It  was  considered  an  antidote  to  mushroom 
169 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

poisoning  by  the  Romans,  and  in  England  it  is 
still  taken,  "after  a  surfeit  of  that  vegetable," 
according  to  London.  The  pear  tree  is  a 
native  of  nearly  all  the  elevated  regions  of 
Europe  and  Western  Asia.  Like  the  apple 
tree  it  was  introduced  into  Britain  by  the 
Romans,  and  it  is  widely  naturalized  in  the 
United  States. 

Mountain  Ash,  A  slender  tree>  or  tal1  shrub>  2O 
or  Rowan  Tree  to  32  feet  high.  Slender  spread- 

Pyrus  americana         fag    oranc^es    w^/t    smooth  bark. 

The  twigs  are  downy,  becoming  smooth  and 
brownish  red  in  color.  Large  alternate  leaf- 
scars.  The  buds  are  pointed,  reddish  in  color, 
and  gummy  to  the  touch.  The  inner  scales  of 
the  buds  are  coated  with  down.  It  has  bright 
scarlet  berry-like  fruit,  which  remains  on  the 
tree  through  the  winter. 

The  mountain  ash  is  seldom  associated  in 
our  minds  with  apple  and  pear  trees,  but  it 
belongs  to  the  same  genus  nevertheless,  and 
has  absolutely  nothing  in  common  with  the 
ash  tree,  as  one  might  suppose.  The  American 
mountain  ash  is  frequently  planted  as  an  orna- 
mental tree,  although  the  European  species  is 
more  often  cultivated  than  ours.  The  buds  of 
the  European  mountain  ash  are  blunter  and 
more  "downy  than  those  of  the  American,  the 
170 


A   YOUNG   BLACK   CH ERRY  TREE 
Primus  feral ina 


Page  171 


THE   APPLE   AND    PEAR   TREES 

bark  is  lighter  in  color,  and  the  berries  are 
larger,  but  apart  from  these  differences  the 
trees  can  scarcely  be  told  apart  in  winter. 

Pyrus  sambucifolia,  the  elder-leafed  moun- 
tain ash,  is  another  native  species  which  grows 
wild  in  the  mountains  of  Northern  New  Eng- 
land and  is  found  as  far  north  as  Greenland 
and  westward.  The  range  of  Pyrus  americana 
is  more  limited,  but  it  is  found  from  Newfound- 
land to  North  Carolina  and  westward. 

Wild  Black      A   tree  or  sfirub^  varying  from 
Cherry  15  to  IOO  feet  high.      The  bark 

Prunus  serotina          ^    smooth     Qn    y()Ung    fr^   wifo 

conspicuous  horizontal  lenlicels  ;  on  old  trees  it 
cracks  and  breaks  off  in  small,  thin,  brittle  scales. 
The  branches  are  slender,  rigid,  reddish  brown 
in  color,  and  bitter  to  the  taste.  The  buds  are 
pointed,  a  light  chestnut  brown  in  color,  with 
closely  overlapping  scales.  Alternate  leaf -scars. 
The  black  cherry  may  be  identified  in  winter 
by  its  bark  and  by  the  disagreeable  bitter  taste 
of  its  stems, —  no  other  tree  has  a  strong,  pecu- 
liar, pungent  taste  like  this.  The  bark  of  the 
young  trees  is  really  beautiful,  it  is  so  smooth 
and  has  such  a  rich  reddish  brown  color;  in 
some  characteristics  it  resembles  that  of  the 
black  birch,  but  the  larger,  coarser  lenticels 
distinguish  it  from  that  tree. 
171 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN    WINTER 

The  black  cherry  is  a  valuable  timber  tree. 
The  wood  is  light,  strong,  and  hard,  and  takes  a 
fair  polish.  It  is  used  in  cabinet  making  and 
for  the  interior  finish  of  houses.  The  bark  of 
the  branches  and  roots  is  much  used  in  medi- 
cine, and  the  ripe  fruit  is  used  to  flavor  alco- 
holic liquors. 

The  meaning  of  the  generic  name,  Prunus, 
is  unknown,  but  it  is  thought  to  be  of  Asiatic 
origin.  The  specific  name,  serotina  (late  flower- 
ing), refers  to  the  blossoms  of  this  tree,  which  ap- 
pear in  June,  later  than  those  of  other  cherries. 
It  is  found  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  and 
reaches  its  greatest  size  in  the  Western  forests. 

Prunus  virginiana,  the  choke  cherry,  and 
Prunus  pennsylvanica,  the  wild  red,  bird,  or  pin 
cherry,  are  two  small  trees  found  more  or  less 
frequently  in  the  woods  throughout  the  Atlantic 
States.  They  are  both  distinguished  from  the 
black  cherry  by  their  red  instead  of  black  fruit. 

The  common  sweet  cherry  (Prunus  avium), 
the  common  peach  tree  (Prunus  Persica),  and 
the  common  garden  plum  (Prunus  domestica) 
all  belong  to  this  genus  and  are  widely  culti- 
vated in  the  United  States.  They  are  small 
trees  with  many  varieties  and  are  planted  for 
their  fruit. 

The  cherry  was  brought  from  Asia  to  Italy, 
172 


THE   APPLE   AND    PEAR   TREES 

and  from  there  it  was  rapidly  carried  to  all 
parts  of  Europe.  The  peach  came  originally 
from  China,  and  was  brought  to  Great  Britain 
by  the  Romans,  who  got  it  from  Persia  during 
the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Claudius.  It  was 
carried  to  North  America  by  the  first  settlers 
at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  difficulty  of  raising  peaches  successfully 
in  the  Northern  States  is  not  so  much  due  to 
the  cold  weather  as  to  the  swelling  of  the  buds 
on  warm  winter  days  and  in  the  early  spring, 
which  are  afterwards  destroyed  if  the  ther- 
mometer goes  below  zero.  An  interesting 
experiment  of  whitewashing  peach  trees,  to 
prevent  the  buds  from  absorbing  heat  on  sunny 
days,  was  tried  by  Mr.  Whitten  of  the  Missouri 
Experiment  Station,  and  it  was  found  that 
whitened  buds  remained  dormant  until  April, 
while  unprotected  buds  swelled  perceptibly 
in  February  and  March.  Eighty  per  cent  of 
whitened  buds  passed  the  winter  safely,  where 
only  twenty  per  cent  of  unwhitened  buds 
escaped  injury  by  premature  swelling. 
Shad  Bush;  Ser-  A  small  tree,  40  to  50  feet  high, 
vice  Berry  ;  with  smooth  brown  bark.  Slen- 
June  Berry  der  /  •  ^  The  buds  are  ^rown 

Amelanchier  canaden- 

sis  and  covered  with  slightly  downy, 

silky  scales,  and  the  leaf-scars  are  alternate. 


STUDIES    OF   TREES    IN    WINTER 

The  shad  bush  is  strongly  associated  with  the 
rich  upland  woods  of  New  England,  and  in 
the  early  spring  its  white  flowers  are  among 
the  first  to  appear  among  the  budding  trees 
and  shrubs,  when  the  streams  are  full  and  the 
shad  begin  to  rise.  In  winter  there  are  no 
marked  characteristics  by  which  it  may  be 
known,  apart  from  its  general  resemblance 
to  other  genera  in  the  family,  and  its  delicate 
twigs,  small  pointed  buds  with  overlapping 
scales,  and  inconspicuous  leaf-scars. 

The  wood  is  close-grained,  heavy,  and  exceed- 
ingly hard,  and  is  used  for  the  handles  of  tools 
and  other  small  implements. 

The  generic  name,  Amelanchier,  is  the  Sa- 
voy name  for  the  medlar.  The  shad  bush  is 
found  from  Newfoundland  to  Northern  Florida 
and  westward. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  WILLOWS  AND  POPLARS 


WHITE  WILLOWS 
Salix  alba 


Page  178 


Chapter  XIV 
THE  WILLOWS  AND  POPLARS 

Family  Salicaceae 

AMONG  the  willows  there  are  so  many 
hybrids  and  varieties  that  their  classi- 
fication   is    difficult    even    in    summer 
when   an   analysis  of   the   flowers  is  possible. 
Most  of  the  species  in  the  Eastern  States  are 
shrubs,  and  I  have  chosen  the  only  large  tree, 
the  white  willow,  as  a  representative  species  for 
study  in  winter.     The  genus  Populus  also  be- 
longs to  this  family,  of  which  four  species  grow 
commonly  in  New  England. 

White  Willow  A  larSe  tree*  5°  to  8o  fat  high, 
Saiix  alba  with  thick,  rough  bark  and  lithe 
branches.  The  twigs  are  smooth  and  often  yel- 
low in  color,  and  the  small  alternate  leaf-scars 
have  three  bundle-scars.  The  buds  are  pointed, 
covered  with  a  single  scale  and  placed  close 
against  the  stems.  The  lateral  buds  are  numer- 
ous and  are  usually  larger  than  the  terminal  buds. 
The  white  willow  is  really  a  native  of  Europe, 
but  for  generations  in  New  England  it  has 

12  ,77 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

associated  itself  with  country  landscapes,  and 
there  is  scarcely  a  marshy  meadow  or  a  stream 
through  a  pasture  with  a  water  course  un- 
marked by  a  row  of  these  trees.  It  seems 
wonderful  that  the  buds  of  willows  should  sur- 
vive our  cold  Northern  winters  as  they  do,  for 
they  are  covered  with  a  single  scale  of  delicate 
texture,  and  the  little  undeveloped  leaves  seem 
perilously  near  the  cold.  The  soft  woolly  cat- 
kins of  some  species,  —  "  the  pussy  willows," 
—  which  come  before  the  leaves,  carry  their 
own  protection  from  cold  weather,  and  even  in 
January,  when  a  few  warm  days  bring  them  out 
prematurely,  they  look  comfortable ;  but  the 
little  leaves  with  their  single  coverings  never 
come  out  before  the  right  time,  and  they  never 
appear  to  have  suffered. 

The  wood  is  weak  and  soft,  and  little  use  is 
made  of  it.  The  value  of  the  twigs  in  •  basket 
making  has  been  recognized  since  early  Roman 
times,  Cato  having  ranked  the  salictum,  or 
willow  field,  next  in  value  to  the  vineyard  and 
the  garden. 

The  generic  name  comes  from  the  Celtic 
words  sal,  near,  Us,  water,  in  allusion  to  its 
aquatic  nature.  It  grows  on  all  kinds  of  soil, 
and  is  widely  naturalized  in  the  United  States. 

The  weeping  willow  (Salix  babylonica]  is 
178 


THE   WILLOW   AND    POPLARS 

planted  in  gardens  and  may  be  distinguished  by 
its  very  slender,  long  drooping  branches,  which 
in  every  limb  suggest  the  sentiment  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ago.  In  allusion  to  its  place  among 
other  trees  in  landscape  composition,  Mrs.  Van 
Rensselaer  says  in  "  Art  Out  of  Doors  " :  — 

"  As  soon  as  we  see  a  weeping  willow  it 
almost  shouts  out  its  contrast  to  the  simpler 
shapes  of  the  trees  which  determine  the  general 
character  of  all  our  landscapes  or  garden 
pictures.  Yet  we  see  it  everywhere,  in  every 
kind  of  situation. 

"  In  all  my  wanderings  I  never  once  have  seen 
it  rightly  placed;  I  never  once  have  seen  it 
where  it  did  not  hurt  the  effect  of  its  surround- 
ings, or,  at  least,  if  it  stood  apart  from  other 
trees,  where  some  tree  of  another  species  would 
not  have  looked  far  better." 

The  black   willow  (Salix  nigra]  is  the  only 
one  anong  our  native  willows  which  grows  to  a 
good  size,  but  even  this  is  seldom  more  than 
thirty  feet  high. 
Aspen;  Ameri-  A    medium  sized  tree,  30  to  60 

can  Aspen      feet  high,  with  a  smooth,  greenish 

Pcpulustremuloides     ^^    ^^    ^   fap^^    ^^ 

The   twigs  are   slender.     The   buds   are   long, 

sharp-pointed,  with  smooth,  glossy  scales  covered 

with  a  gummy  substance.     Alternate  leaf -scars. 

179 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

The  aspen  is  more  conspicuous  in  summer, 
when  the  constant  motion  of  its  trembling 
leaves  attracts  our  attention,  than  it  is  in  winter, 
although  in  some  trees  the  smooth,  olive-green 
bark  of  the  trunk  is  very  attractive,  particularly 
in  contrast  with  the  snow.  There  have  been 
endless  allusions  in  literature  to  the  European 
aspen,  which  resembles  our  species.  In  a 
simile  showing  the  activity  of  Penelope's 
maidens,  Homer  says:  — 

"  Some  ply  the  loom;  their  busy  fingers  move 
Like  poplar  leaves  when  zephyr  fans  the  grove." 

Again  Spenser  uses  the  same  simile :  — 

"  His  hand  did  quake 
And  tremble  like  a  leaf  of  aspen  green." 

And  Sir  Walter  Scott  uses  it  in  the  same 
way  to  picture  quick  changes  of  facial  expres- 
sion:— 

"  With  every  change  his  features  played, 
As  aspens  show  the  light  and  shade." 

Gerard,  in  a  way  scarcely  flattering  to  the 
sex,  compares  the  leaves  to  women's  tongues, 
"  which  seldom  cease  wagging  ;  "  but  Sir  Walter 
Scott  restores  the  balance  in  the  lines :  — 

"  O  woman  !  in  our  hours  of  ease 
Uncertain,  coy,  and  hard  to  please, 
And  variable  as  the  shade 
By  the  light  quivering  aspen  made, 
When  pain  and  anguish  wring  the  brow, 
A  ministering  angel  thou." 
180 


ASPENS 
Populus  tremuloides 


Page  180 


THE   WILLOW   AND    POPLARS 

The  wood  is  close-grained,  soft,  and  not 
strong,  but  it  is  made  into  pulp  and  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  paper.  The  bark  is  brittle, 
with  a  taste  like  quinine,  but  the  inner  bark 
is  sweet,  and  in  the  spring  it  is  used  as  food 
by  the  Indians. 

The  generic  name,  Populus,  is  supposed  to 
have  come  from  the  Latin  arbor  populi  (the 
tree  of  the  people),  because  rows  of  this  tree 
were  always  planted  in  public  places  about 
Rome.  The  specific  name,  tremuloides,  refers 
to  the  leaves  which  tremble  continually  on 
account  of  their  long,  flattened,  pliable  leaf- 
stalks. The  aspen  grows  wild  throughout  the 
Northern  United  States  and  in  the  mountains 
of  Lower  California  and  Mexico. 

A   large  tree,  60  to  So  feet  high, 
^e"  °°    '       with  smooth  greenish  gray  bark, 
grandiden-     The  buds  are  conical  with  some- 
what downy   scales   and  spread 
at  right  angles  from  the  stem.     Slender  twigs 
and  alternate  leaf -scars. 

This  tree  is  quite  distinct  from  the  American 
aspen,  although  it  is  often  confounded  with  it. 
It  is  found  much  less  frequently  than  the 
American  aspen. 

The  wood  is  close-grained,  soft,  and  light, 
and  is  used  for  making  wood  pulp  and  wooden 
181 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

ware.  In  old  times  when  it  was  the  fashion 
for  women  to  wear  high-heeled  shoes  this  wood 
was  used  in  making  heels,  as  it  was  light  and 
best  adapted  to  the  purpose. 

The  specific  name,  grandidentata  (large 
toothed),  refers  to  the  serrations  of  the  leaf, 
which  are  much  coarser  than  those  of  the 
American  aspen. 

Balm    of        A   tal1  tree'  4°  to  7°  feet  high. 

Gilead;  Balsam    The  bark  is  smooth  and  green- 

Poplar          jsfo    array,  often   roughly  ridged 

Pofulus  bahamifera  .,f,  r   .,       ,  /       , 

at  the  base  of  the  trunk.  Large 
buds  with  overlapping  scales  covered  with  a 
sticky,  yellow,  glutinous  substance.  Conspicuous 
alternate  leaf-scars. 

In  the  early  spring,  when  the  sun  has  melted 
the  gummy  resin  which  covers  the  buds  of  the 
balm  of  Gilead,  one  can  tell  the  tree  blind- 
folded by  its  sweet,  pungent  perfume,  and  even 
in  winter  the  buds  have  this  same  strong, 
medicinal,  aromatic  odor  which  serves  as  a 
means  of  recognizing  the  tree. 

Pallas  says  that  when  grouse  and  other  birds 
of  that  family  feed  on  the  buds  of  the  balm  of 
Gilead  during  the  winter,  their  flesh  becomes 
imbued  with  the  balsam  flavor,  which  he  seems 
to  think  adds  to  the  relish  of  the  meat  as  food. 

This  tree  grows  very  fast  on  almost  any  kind 
182 


THE    WILLOW   AND    POPLARS 

of  soil,  and  its  roots  extend  to  a  great  distance. 
Emerson  found  a  balm  of  Gilead  the  roots  of 
which  had  passed  under  a  house  forty  feet  wide 
and  thrown  up  suckers  on  the  other  side. 

The  wood,  like  that  of  other  poplars,  is  soft 
and  light  and  is  used  in  making  paper  pulp, 
pails,  and  boxes. 

The  specific  name  refers  to  the  balsam  on 
the  buds.  The  balm  of  Gilead  is  found  in  the 
Western  and  Eastern  States. 

Cottonwood ;    A    large   tree,    80    to    100  feet 
Necklace  or      hi^      The    bark    is  dark  ^ra 
Carolina  *  .  *     -^ 

Poplar  and  more  broken  in  fissures  than 
Popuius  deitoide*  that  of  other  poplars.  The  buds 
are  glossy  and  resinous,  but  have  less  balsam  than 
those  of  the  other  species.  Alternate  leaf -scars. 
Conspicuous  jive-angled  pith  in  the  small  stems. 
The  cottonwood  is  larger  than  the  other 
poplars,  and  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  it  some- 
times grows  to  be  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
high.  The  climate  of  London  must  be  par- 
ticularly congenial  to  this  tree,  for  Emerson 
alludes  to  trees  there  which  grew  thirty  and 
forty  feet  in  only  seven  years.  In  England 
it  is  called  the  black  Italian  poplar.  The  name 
necklace  poplar  comes  from  the  resemblance 
of  the  fruit  of  the  catkins  to  the  beads  of  a 
necklace. 

'83 


STUDIES    OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

The  wood  is  light  and  soft,  and  is  used  for 
pulp,  for  making  packing  cases,  and  for  fuel. 

The  specific  name,  deltoides,  comes  from  the 
Greek,  and  alludes  to  the  deltoid  or  triangular 
shape  of  the  leaves.  The  cottonwood  grows 
wild  in  Western  New  England,  south  to  Florida 
and  westward. 

Beside  these  four  poplars,  the  swamp  cot- 
tonwood (Populus  heterophylla)  is  found  grow- 
ing wild  at  one  place  in  Connecticut,  and  the 
Lombardy  and  white  poplars  are  both  planted 
commonly  from  Europe. 

The  erect,  rigid  branches  of  the  Lombardy 
poplar  and  its  general  narrow,  spire-like  growth 
make  the  outline  of  this  tree  so  distinctive  that 
it  is  easily  recognized,  even  in  winter,  at  a  great 
distance.  The  buds  are  gummy,  and  the  bark 
of  the  trunk  is  deeply  fissured.  It  is  a  tall 
tree,  often  reaching  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  high. 

The  white  poplar  may  be '  distinguished  by 
its  buds,  which  are  not  covered  with  sticky 
coating  like  those  of  the  other  members  of  this 
genus,  and  by  the  recent  shoots,  which  are 
downy.  It  is  remarkable  in  summer  for  the 
thick,  white  down  on  the  under  sides  of  the  dark 
green  leaves,  producing  a  most  pleasing  con- 
trast in  the  foliage  when  the  wind  blows. 
184 


CHAPTER   XV 
THE    LARCH 


AMERICAN   LARCH 

Larix  larcina 


Page 


Chapter   XV 
THE   LARCH 

Family  Pinaceae 

THE  larch  is  the  only  native  Northern 
genus  of  the   pine  family  which  loses 
its   leaves   in    winter;    all    the    other 
native  genera  are  evergreens.     There   is  one 
indigenous  species,  and  one  from  Europe  which 
is   cultivated    even   more   commonly  than  the 
American  tree. 

American       ^  ^rge  tree,  50  to  IOO  feet  high 
Larch ;  Tama-    The  bark  is  rough  with  small,  flat 

raCkmata£kaCk~  scales'     The  stems  ^e  pliable,  and 
Larix  larcma       are  covered  with  knobby  biids.   The 
cones  are  small,  not  more  than  half  an  inch  long. 
In   Massachusetts  the  larch  does  not  attain 
a  great  height,  but  in  cold  Northern  swamps  it 
grows  to  be  a  large  tree.     It  is  not  dependent 
on  a  wet  situation,  but  grows  well  after  being 
transplanted  into  upland  soil.     Its  growth   is 
rapid,  and   it   is  often   chosen  for  "quick   ef- 
fects "  in  landscape  gardening,  —  a  choice  which 
is   to  be  regretted  for  the  most  part,  as   few 
trees  have  so  little  beauty  as  the  larch. 
187 


STUDIES   OF   TREES    IN   WINTER 

During  a  brief  interval  in  the  early  spring, 
when  the  first  young  leaves  fringe  the  branches 
in  delicate  green,  this  tree  is  really  lovely,  but 
after  that  there  is  little  to  attract  us  in  its  stiff, 
formal  outline  and  dark  foliage,  and  in  winter 
it  is  most  unprepossessing. 

The  wood  is  heavy,  hard,  strong,  and  very 
durable.  It  is  used  for  the  knees  of  vessels 
and  ship  timbers,  for  posts,  telegraph  poles,  and 
railway  ties. 

The  generic  name,  Larix,  comes  from  the 
Celtic  word  lar,  meaning  fat,  and  was  .given  to 
this  genus  on  account  of  the  resin  produced  by 
the  tree.  The  larch  is  found  throughout  the 
Northeastern  States. 

European        A  lar£e  tree>  8o  *°  ™> /"*  higk- 
Larch  The   branches  are   more  pendu- 

Larix  decidua  fo^    ^^   ^    CQngs    aye  ^^    ^ 

large  as  those  of  our  native  species. 

The  cones  of  both  the  American  and  Euro- 
pean larches  hang  on  the  branches  through  the 
winter,  and  as  those  of  the  European  are  an 
inch  or  more  long  and  about  as  broad,  while 
those  of  the  American  are  half  that  size,  the 
trees  are  easily  distinguished  from  each  other. 
Even  in  the  accompanying  photographs  this 
difference  is  discernible. 

At  one  time  in  England  the  plan  of  intro- 
188 


EUROPEAN  LARCH 
Larix  decidua 


Page  1 88 


THE    LARCH 

ducing  the  larch  into  the  forests  bordering 
the  English  lakes  was  under  consideration, 
and  this  greatly  disturbed  the  poet  Words- 
worth, who  was  keenly  alive  to  the  distressing 
effects  of  inharmonious  and  inappropriate  tree 
planting.  In  "  A  Description  of  the  Scenery  of 
the  Lakes,"  he  points  out  the  fact  that  it  is 
impossible  for  trees  which  terminate  in  a  spike, 
like  that  of  the  larch,  to  blend  together  and 
form  masses  of  wood ;  that  if  thousands  to 
tens  of  thousands  are  added,  the  appearance  is 
still  the  same,  a  collection  of  separate  individ- 
ual trees,  obstinately  presenting  themselves  as 
such,  and  which,  from  whatever  point  they  are 
looked  at,  if  but  seen  may  be  counted  upon 
the  fingers.  He  goes  on  to  express  his  dislike 
of  the  larch  in  the  following  words  "  As  a  tree 
it  is  less  than  any  other  pleasing ;  its  branches 
(for  boughs  it  has  none)  have  no  variety  in  the 
youth  of  this  tree,  and  little  dignity  even  when 
it  attains  its  full  growth ;  leaves  it  cannot  be 
said  to  have,  consequently  it  affords  neither 
shade  nor  shelter.  In  spring  the  larch  be- 
comes green  long  before  the  native  trees,  and 
its  green  is  so  peculiar  and  vivid  that,  finding 
nothing  to  harmonize  with  it,  wherever  it  comes 
forth  a  disagreeable  speck  is  produced.  In  sum- 
mer, when  all  other  trees  are  in  their  pride,  it  is 
189 


STUDIES   OF   TREES   IN   WINTER 

of  a  dingy,  lifeless  hue  ;  in  autumn  of  a  spiritless, 
unvaried  yellow,  and  in  winter  it  is  still  more 
lamentably  distinguished  from  every  other  de- 
ciduous tree  of  the  forest,  for  they  seem  only  to 
sleep,  but  the  larch  appears  absolutely  dead." 

Many  old  stories  are  in  existence  concerning 
the  durability  and  incombustibility  of  the  wood 
of  this  tree.  It  is  said  that  Julius  Caesar  wished 
to  set  fire  to  a  wooden  tower  before  the  gates  of 
a  castle,  in  the  Alps,  which  he  was  besieging; 
that  he  heaped  up  logs  of  larch  wood  around 
it,  but  was  utterly  unable  to  make  them  burn, 
— "  robusta  larix  igni  impenetrabile  lignum? 
Evelyn,  one  of  the  first  English  writers  on  trees, 
gives  an  account  of  a  ship  made  of  larch  wood 
and  cypress  which  was  found  in  the  Numidian 
Sea,  twelve  fathoms  under  water,  and  which, 
though  it  had  lain  fourteen  hundred  years  sub- 
merged, was  yet  quite*  hard  and  sound. 

Exaggerated  as  these  accounts  may  seem, 
the  fact  remains  that  the  wood  is  extremely 
valuable,  and  what  the  larch  lacks  in  grace  and 
beauty  as  an  ornamental  tree  it  makes  up  in 
its  merits  as  a  useful  one.  Thus  even  among 
trees  there  is  a  just  law  of  compensation.  * 


190 


INDEX 


191 


INDEX 


ACACIA,  rose,  131 

BALM  of  Gilead,  182 

Acer,  21 

Bark,  6,  7 

dasycarpum,  26 

color  of,  7 

Negundo,  28,  29 

taste  of,  7 

pennsylvanicum,  27,  28 

Basswood,  141 

platanoides,  29,  30 

small  leaved,  141 

Pseudo-Platanus,  30,  31 

white,  141 

rubrum,  23,  25 

Beech,  7,  77 

saccharinum,  25,  26 

American,  77 

saccharum,  22,  23,  26 

blue,  72 

spicatum,  28 

European,  79 

Aceraceee,  21 

purple,  80 

sEscu/us  glabra,  17 

Be  tula,  6  1 

Hippocastanum,  15,  17 

alba,  68 

Ailanthus,  160 

lenta,  63,  64 

glandulosa,  160,  161 

lutea,  64,  66 

Amelanchier  ;  174 

«#ra,  66 

canadensis,  173 

papyrifera,  60,  6l 

Angelica  tree,  162 

populijolia,  62,  63 

Apple  tree,  167 

pumila,  68 

Aralia  spinosa,  162,  163 

Betulacea,  59 

Araliacecs,  153,  162 

Bigelow,  158 

Ash,  American,  36 

Bignoniacea,  153,  I  $8 

black,  38 

Birch,  59 

buds,  color  of,  40 

American,  62 

downy,  37 

beer,  64 

European,  39 

black,  63 

excrescences  on  the,  36 

canoe,  7,  60 

green,  36 

dwarf,  68 

red,  37 

European  white, 

seeds,  41 

gray,  62 

white,  36 

paper,  60 

Ashes,  9,  35,  41 

red,  66 

Aspen,  179 

river,  66 

American,  179 

sweet,  63 

large-toothed,  181 

white,  60,  62 

'3                                      193 

INDEX 


Birch,  yellow,  64 
Birches,  59 
Bosc,  169 
Boutcher,  80 
Box  elder,  28 
Branches,  6,  7,  10 
Bryant,  quoted,  119 
Buckeye,  Ohio,  17 
Buckeyes,  15 
Buds,  6,  10,  1 1 

accessory,  n 

adventitious,  n 

axillary,  6,  to 

collateral,  n 

flower,  ii 

flowers  in  the,  10 

latent,  n 

lateral,  6,  10 

scales  of,  9 

superposed,  n 

terminal,  6,  10 

winter,  n 

Bundle-scars,  10  j 

Butternut,  n,  45 

sugar  from  sap  of,  47 
Buttonwood,  117 


CAMBIUM  layer,  5,  6 
Carpinus,  73 

caroliniana,  72,  74 
Carya,  45,  51 

alba,  51 

cordiformis,  53 

glabra,  54,  56 

ffvata,  49 
Castanea,  82 

dentata,  8 1,  83 
Catalpa,  hardy,  158 

speciosa,  158,  160 
Cf  fit's,  10 1 

occidentalis,  112,  113 
Cercis  canadensis,  1 36 
Cherry,  bird,  172 


Cherry,  black,  7,  171 

choke,  172 

pin,  172 

red,  172 

sweet,  172 
Chestnut,  77,  81 

Spanish,  82 
Cladrastis,  134 

lutea,  134 
Cook,  80 
Cork  tree,  89 
Cornacecs,  120 
Cornel,  flowering,  121 
Cornus,  122 

florida,  121,  122 
Cottomvood,  183 

swamp,  184 
Cucumber  tree,  155 


DOGWOOD,  120 

flowering,  121 
poison,  121 

Du  Hamel,  quoted,  143 


ELM,  101 

American,  5,  10,  101,  102 

cork,  7,  107,  144 

Dutch,  in 

English,  101,  108 

feathered,  11,  103 

Lancaster,  103 

red,  105 

rock,  107 

Scotch,  in 

slippery,  7,  105 

Thomas's,  107 

white,  102 

wych,  in 
Elms,  101 

Emerson,  quoted,  37,  39,  87,  91, 
94,  108,  119,  183* 
Evelyn,  quoted,  41,  80,  190 


194 


INDEX 


FAGACE&,  77 

Fagus,  79 

grandifolia,  77 
sylvatica,  78,  80 

Fraxinus,  35 

americana,  36 
excelsior,  39 
nigra,  38 
Pennsylvania,  37 

Fruit,  8 


GERARD,  quoted,  70,  HI,  180 
Gilpin,  80,  119 
Gleditsia,  133 

triacanthos,  132,  133 
Gray,  quoted,  47,  119 
Growth,  6,  9,  10 

annual  rings  of,  6 
Gymnocladus  dioica,  135 


HACKBERRY,  101,  112 
Hackmatack,  187 
Uamamelidaceee,  141 
Hamamelis,  144,  146 
Hamerton,  quoted,  69 
Heartwood,  5,  6 
Hercules'  club,  162 
Hickories,  9,  45 
Hickory,  bitternut,  53 

mockernut,  7,  51 

pignut,  54 

shagbark,  7,  49 

shellbark,  49 

whiteheart,  51 
Hippocastanacea,  15 
Holmes,  quoted,  109,  118 
Homer,  quoted,  180 
Hop  hornbeam,  8,  71 
Hornbeam,  7,  72 
Horsechestnut,  8,  9,  15,  41,  143 
Horsechestnut  buds,  15,  1 6 


Horsechestnut  flowers,  16 
leaf-scars,  15 
twigs,  15 


INDIAN  bean,  158 
Internodes,  9 
Ironwood,  71 


JEKYLL,  quoted,  69 
Judas  tree,  136 
fuglandacea,  45 
Juglans,  45,  47 

cinerea,  45 

nigra,  48. 

regia,  49 
Juneberry,  173 


KENTUCKY   coffee  tree,  129,  135, 

160,  161 
Knight,  169 


LABURNUM  rulgare,  136 
Larch,  187 

American,  187 

European,  188 
Larix,  188 

decidua,  188 

larcina,  187 
Lauracea,  141,  147 
Leaf-scars,  9,  10 
Legwniitosa,  129 
Lenticels,  8,  16 
Jme  trees,  143 
Linden,  141 

common,  141 

European,  141,  143 
Linnaeus,  28,  67,  143,  145,  146 
Liquidambar ;  144,  145 
Styradfiua,  144,  146 


'95 


INDEX 


Liquidamber,  7,  144 
Liriodendron,  153,  157 

Tulipifera,  155 
Locust,  clammy,  131 

common,  129 

honey,  132 

Loudon,  31,  in,  124,  148 
Lowell,  quoted,  24  ' 
Lubbock,  quoted,  156 


MAGNOLIA  acuminata,  155 

swamp,  153 

tripetala,  154,  iSS 

virgimana,  153 
Magnoliacetz,  153,  157 
Maple,  21 

ash-!eaved,  28 

bird's  eye,  23 

curled,  25 

moosewood,  27 

mountain,  7,  28 

Norway,  29 

red,  10,  ii,  23 

rock,  22 

silver,  25 

striped,  7,  27 

sugar,  7,  22 

swamp,  23 

sycamore,  30 

white,  25 
Maples,  9,  21,  41 
Maple  sugar,  22,  23 
Mathews,  80 
Medullary  rays,  6 
Michaux,  55,  79,  88,  145 
Milton,  quoted,  109 
Moractz,    1 22 
Morus,  123 

alba,  123,  124 

rubra,  123 
Mountain  ash,  170 
Mulberry,  red,  123 

white,  122,  124 


NETTLE  tree,  112 
Nodes,  9 
Nyssat  1  20 

sylvatica,  1  20 


OAK  apples,  93 

bear,  97 

black,  92 

bur,  88 

chestnut,  89 

chinquapin,  90 

dwarf  chestnut,  90 

mossy-cup,  88,  144 

overcup,  88 

pin,  96 

post,  91 

red,  93 

rock  chestnut,  89 

rough,  91 

scarlet,  95 

scrub,  97 

swamp  white,  86 

white,  85 

Oaks,  9,  77,  83,  84 
OltacecE,  35 
Ostrya,  72 

virginiana,  71,  72 
Ovid,  quoted,  no 


PALLAS,  quoted,  182 
Peach  tree,  172 

buds  of,  173 
Pear  tree,  169 
Pepperidge,  120 
Phyllotaxy,  81,  82 
Pinacea,  187 
Pith,  6,  8 

color,  8 

form,  8 

rays,  6 
Plane  tree,  117 
Platanacea-,  117 


INDEX 


Platanus,  119 

REDBUD,  136 

occidentalis,  117,  119 

Robinia,  130 

orientalis,  119 

hispida,  131 

Plum,  172 

Pseudo-Acacia,  129,  130 

Poplar,  balm  of  Gilead,  182 

viscosa,  131 

balsam,  182 

Rosacea,  167 

Carolina,  183 

Rowan  tree,  170 

cottonwood,  183 

Lombardy,  184 

necklace,  183 
swamp  cottonwood,  184 
white,  184 
Populus,  177,  1  8  1 

SALICACE&,  177 
Salix  alba,  177 
babylonica,  178 

balsamifera,  182 
deltoides,  183,  184 
grandidentata,  181,  182 

w/^ffl,  ^79 
Sapwood,  5 
Sargent,  quoted,  104,  107,  124,  135, 
I4C 

heterophylla,  184 

^j 
Sassafras,  7,  141,  147 

tremuloides,  179,  181 

Sassafras  variifolium,  147 

Prunus,  172 

Scars,  9 

at'tum,  172 

fruit,  9 

domestica,  172 

leaf,  9 

pennsylvanica,  172 

stipule,  9 

Per  sic  a,  172 

Service  berry,  173 

serotina,  171,  172 

Scott,  quoted,  69,  180 

virginiana,  172 

Shad  bush,  173 

Pyrus,  1  68 

Shenstone,  quoted,  70 

americana,  170,  171 

Silkworms,  124,  125 

commuHts,  169 
Malus,  167 
sambucifolia,  171 

SimaroubacetF,  153,  159 
Sour  gum  tree,  120 
Spenser,  quoted,  180 

Stems,  8,  9 

Stipules,  9 

QUERCUS,  83,  85 

Sugar  berry,  112 

fl/te,  85 

Sumac  poison,  121 

bicolor,  86 

Sweet  bay,  153 

coccinea,  95,  96 

Sweet  gum,  144 

ilicifolia,  97 

Sycamore,  117 

macrocarpa,  88,  89 

palustris,  96,  97 

prinoides,  90,  91 

Prinus,  89 

TAMARACK,  187 

™<*ra,  93,  95 

Tennyson,  quoted,  40,  41 

stellata,  91 

Thoreau,  24 

velutina,  92,  93 

quoted,  65,  148 

IQJ 

INDEX 


Thorns,  8 

Tilia  americanat  141 

Tiliacea,  141 

Tree  of  heaven,  160 

Trees,  3,  4 

age  of,  6, 8,  9 
dool,  31 

Trunk,  tree,  5 

deliquescent,  5 
dicotyledonous,  5 
excurrent,  5 

Tulip  tree,  153,  155 

Tupelo,  7,  1 20 

Twigs,  8 


ULMACE&,  101 
Umbrella  tree,  154 
Ulmus,  101,  105 

americana,  102 

campestris,  108,  no,  112 


Ulmus  fulva,  105,  106 
glabra,  ill,  112 
racemosa,  107,  108 

VASCULAR  bundles,  10 
Virgil,  quoted,  no 
Virgilia,  135 

WALNUT,  black,  48 

English,  49 
Walnuts,  8,  9,  45 
Willow,  black,  179 

"  pussy,"  178 

weeping,  7,  178 

white,  177 
Witch-hazel,  146 
Wood,  5,  6 

silver  grain  of,  6 
Wordsworth,  quoted,  189 

YELLOWVVOOD,  129,  134 


677  105    9 


